ISLAMABAD: Secretary Election Commission Babar Yaqoob says holding of free and fair elections is the prime responsibility of Election Commission and all the other institutions are only assisting it.
He was briefing Senate Standing Committee on Interior in Islamabad today about the security plan for general elections. Rehman Malik chaired the meeting.
The Secretary Election Commission informed the meeting that there will be 85,307 polling stations across the country, and all of them will be available on Google Map.
He said over twenty thousand polling stations have been declared sensitive, and CCTV cameras will be installed inside and outside all these polling stations.
He said three meetings were held with inspector generals of police regarding security. He said the provinces should make CCTV cameras functional by 25th of this month.
The Secretary Election Commission said four hundred fifty thousand policemen and over three hundred thousand army troops will be deployed on the polling day. As many as seven hundred and fifty thousand polling staff will perform the duty.
He said army personnel will assist the Election Commission under the law, and they will work under presiding officers.
The Secretary said for the first time a code of conduct for security personnel has been prepared.
He said for the first time watermarked ballot papers imported from Europe will be used in the elections.
Babar Yaqoob informed the committee that Returning Officers will send results to Election Commission through a special software. He said observers, most of them from EU and Commonwealth, will monitor the elections.
Briefing the Senate Committee on Interior, National Coordinator NACTA Dr. Suleman Khan said sixty-five security alerts had been received so far and they were issued to all political parties. He said there are threats from banned organizations including Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar. He said a threat was also received from MQM London.
The coordinator said all intelligence committees at district levels should be made functional.
DG ISPR Major General Asif Ghafoor told the meeting that Army is only working to maintain law and order on ECP’s directives to ensure peaceful polling.
He said the army has nothing more to do with the election.
Major General Asif Ghafoor said 371,000 personnel of armed forces will perform election duty on 857,000 polling stations across the country.
He said two security personnel each will be deployed inside and outside a polling station.
450,000 police, 300,000 army personnel to be deployed on polling day — ECP
450,000 police, 300,000 army personnel to be deployed on polling day — ECP
- There will be 85,307 polling stations across the country, and all of them will be available on Google Map
- Over twenty thousand polling stations have been declared sensitive, and CCTV cameras will be installed inside and outside all these polling stations
Under floodlights after Tarawih prayers, late-night Ramadan volleyball lights up Islamabad
- Players and spectators gather after Tarawih prayers and matches run until 3am
- Teams travel from across Islamabad and nearby towns to take part in the tournament
ISLAMABAD: Soon after the Tarawih prayers end each night in Ramadan, a playground in Islamabad’s D-17 sector comes alive under bright floodlights.
The quiet residential corner fills with the thwack of volleyballs flying across the net as players leap for smashes and spectators line the edges of the ground, cheering and clapping late into the night. Matches often stretch until 3am, just hours before Sehri, the pre-dawn meal before the day’s fast begins.
Volleyball, one of the cheapest team sports, has long been popular in Pakistani towns and villages. Pakistan’s national team currently ranks 44th out of 101 teams in the FIVB Senior World Rankings and seventh in Asia.
During Ramadan, however, the game becomes more than just competition. With daily routines slowed by fasting, nighttime offers a rare window for activity, socializing and community gatherings.
“It has been four years since I started playing here,” said Ismail Khan, who hails from North Waziristan in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and has represented Pakistan at the Under-19 level.
“Late-night matches in Ramadan have become a tradition. We are busy during the day and fasting, so the night is when everyone is free. That’s when we come together.”
This year, the D-17 Volley Club has organized a Ramadan tournament that has drawn teams from across the capital as well as nearby towns and villages. For many participants, the games are about more than winning.
Khan says the atmosphere during Ramadan is unique.
“It feels different in Ramadan,” he told Arab News. “There is more energy.”
The appeal of the matches extends beyond local players. Whyn Whyn, a volleyball player from the Philippines visiting Pakistan for the second time, occasionally joins games at the D-17 ground.
“This is my exercise. And through sports, I meet many people,” she said, adding that she often spends evenings rotating between different grounds in Islamabad.
Around the court, spectators gather on motorbikes or stand shoulder-to-shoulder near the sidelines, watching each rally unfold. The crowd’s cheers rise with every powerful serve or well-timed block.
“In Ramadan, the atmosphere is different,” Naveed Mahmood, who regularly comes to watch the matches, told Arab News.
“There are more people compared to other months. We stay here until Sehri.”
Children are frequent visitors as well, weaving through the crowd or sitting beside their parents while watching the games.
“I come here two to three times a week to watch volleyball,” said Muhammad Haroon, 13. “My father also plays here and watching him has inspired me to play as well.”
For Munawar Khan, the tournament’s organizer and a doctor by profession, the idea began five years ago with a simple aim: to keep people active during a month when daily routines slow.
“In Ramadan, people don’t have much activity during the day,” he said. “They are fasting and working. At night, they feel free. So, we decided to install floodlights and organize games.”
Over time, the initiative has grown into something larger.
Now, as the night deepens and the crowd lingers by the court, the rhythm of rallies continues beneath the lights, a small Ramadan ritual where sport, community and late-night energy meet until the approach of dawn.
“People from all walks of life come here to play,” Munawar said. “It brings the community together.”
