Pak's D-Chowk to be opened this week, says official

D-Chowk, a prominent town square in Pakistan's national capital often used for political rallies and public gatherings that was closed for a month following the Indo-Pak tensions, will be opened to traffic this week, according to a media report.

The D- Chowk, which was one of the busiest intersections here, was shut after the tensions escalated between India and Pakistan in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack by the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in Kashmir which killed 40 CRPF personnel.

After the suicide attack, India carried out air strikes against the biggest training camp of JeM in Balakot in Pakistan on February 26. In the operation, a very large number of JeM terrorists, trainers, senior commanders and groups of jihadis who were being trained for suicide attacks were killed

The next day, Pakistan Air Force retaliated and downed a MiG-21 in an aerial confrontation and captured an Indian pilot, who was handed over to India later.

 

A joint session of parliament was called the very next day after the incident and the security of the Red Zone was increased from level III to level V, which is called red alert'. It was decided to close D-Chowk, and later Radio Pakistan Chowk was also closed because of VIP movement, a senior Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration official was quoted as saying the Dawn paper.

Another reason the D-Chowk and the Radio Pakistan chowk were closed because of the police personnel deployed there were sent to other areas and for VIP security.

The Pakistani official said that the D-Chowk will be opened this week.

It has been decided in principle to open D-Chowk during the current week, the official said.

Officials said that the D-Chowk was considered to be opened for the road traffic before. However, a decision was taken by the administration to delay it due to the visit of Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on March 23.

D-Chowk used to be one of the busiest intersections in the capital, but was closed off in 2007 when then president Gen Pervez Musharraf announced a state of emergency.

It was reopened a number of times for short periods, including for the National Day parade in March 2008, and was also the site of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's 2014 protests.

Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Hamza Shafqaat said that D-Chowk was closed after tensions escalated with India because the capital's security alert level was increased.

That red alert continued because of VIP movement and the road could not be opened. We will be able to open D-Chowk once the level of security drops from V to III again, he said.