ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed will review security situation of the federal capital on Sunday (today).

Sources told Dawn that the minister was expected to review security of the entry points of the federal capital and he would decide a strategy to boost security of the Red Zone.

The sources said security of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) would also be discussed during a meeting presided over by the interior minister.

The inspector general of Islamabad Police, Chief Commissioner and representatives of law enforcement agencies will attend the meeting. Police chiefs of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will also join them via video link.

Head of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) Maulana Fazlur Rehman had on Jan 6 announced that they would stage a protest outside the ECP on Jan 19.

He had claimed during a public meeting in Bannu that a founding member of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf had revealed that the PTI received funding from India, Europe and Israel, but the ECP failed to hold it accountable in this case.

Prime Minister Imran Khan had recently hinted at allowing the opposition parties to hold their protest outside the ECP and constituted a five-member committee headed by the interior minister to monitor the law and order situation in the federal capital.

The committee held its maiden meeting on Thursday and decided to allow the PDM to stage the protest, with a warning against violating the law.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2021