Islamabad: Concrete barricades & barriers trouble Islooites

[Naveed Yaseen]

Myra Imran
With police pickets, concrete barricades and barriers having become a prominent feature, Islamabad seems to be a combination of guns and roses these days.

While colourful flowers adorn the front lawns of homes, people living in them are worried over the new wave of bomb blasts this week. Many already have gun-totting security guards manning their front gates that perhaps provide them some sense of security.

The sense of fear is obvious among the residents who have had an overdose of bomb blasts and suicide attacks for almost two years. Now they fear reaction from terrorists, as a result of military’s operation ‘Rah-e-Rast’ in Malakand Division.

Indeed all the pickets and security measures in place in the capital have disturbed life in general. Gone are the days when people said ‘cheese’ and had their photos taken in front of the landmark buildings along the Constitution Avenue. Gone too are the pleasure drives on the wide and inviting roads and so have the evening strolls at the Parade Square. Not very long ago, the now barricaded Parade Square used to be the hub of activity in the evening. People residing in the adjoining areas spent their evenings there during summers. Children playing around the flowerbeds and ice cream vendors doing brisk business are now a thing of the past. The Parade Square has been shut down for nearly two years now. Today, paramilitary Rangers and police stand alert around the area that is complete no-go zone. In the backdrop, the all-white Presidency building stands majestically.

Residents believe that Islamabad may never be the same again — where people once roamed free, the markets were crowded, businesses thrived and life seemed untroubled. But it isn’t so now.

Security concerns are such that police, paramilitary Rangers, guns and pickets are now a permanent feature of a town that was known for its peace and quiet. In the wake of security threats the talk seems to be about walls, big and small.

The UN offices have already fortified their offices by erecting huge concrete walls whereas government offices and some police stations are in the process of constructing compound walls. How extensive such precautionary measures need to be ring on everyone’s mind, but residents think that the government needs to go for enhancing the capabilities of its intelligence agencies to thwart terror rather than creating troubles for the residents.

“Putting the town under siege is not the answer — do not alienate the people,” stressed Tariq Azam pointing out that more money should be spent on intelligence gathering. “Shutting off roads and streets only means inconveniencing the public,” he added asking the authorities not to trouble locals while trying to catch terrorists. The residents recall with fondness the free movement in places like the Diplomatic Enclave, the lovely drives on the road leading to the Quaid-i-Azam University and a string of other avenues that are now under siege. MK Sufi, a member of the Islamabad Citizen’s Committee, who has seen Islamabad in its infancy, remembers the days when, as a youngster he used to cycle through the areas that are today completely fenced. “Islamabad is being turned into a civil cantonment and it appears that in the days ahead, the movement of residents would be restricted to the very sectors where they live,” he said. Muhammad Asad, an Islooite for three decades, said that this town wouldn’t be the same again. “Because of flawed government policies, we are being made to pay the price,” he said. Largely the people are unhappy with the state of siege and feel that security does not mean cordoning off roads and building walls all around. Rather, they stress it is all about intelligence.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=180326