LAHORE: Protests continued in various parts of the country on Tuesday for the second day as supporters of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) demonstrated against the arrest of party chief Allama Saad Hussain Rizvi.
According to sources, at least three people were killed including policeman and several others injured when violence erupted in major parts of Lahore.
Major intersections remained close in metropolis while traffic was suspended in various parts of the city. Further, Motorway Police advised citizens to avoid travelling unnecessarily notwithstanding Motorway M-1 and M-2 were open for all kinds of traffic.
Ferozepure Road, Bhatta Chowk, Multan Road, Daroghawala, Chungi Amar Sidhu (both sides), Shahkam Chowk, Mul Pulli, Raiwand, Yateem Khana Chowk, Khayaban Chowk, Shahpur Kanjra (traffic slow), Shahdara Mor towards Begum Kot (both sides), Mohafiz Town, Barki roundabout, New Shadbagh Chowk, Karol Ghatti Ring Road (both sides), Scheme Mor, Samanabad Mor, Main Multan Road, Amin Chowk, Ghazi, Chowk, Mohlanwal, Shadra Chowk, Kacha Jail Road and Lake City roads were closed due to the protest.
The protesters also set a police van on fire near Grand Trunk Road. The policemen inside the van remained unhurt. The van belonged to the Manawan police station.
During the protest, a police officer, identified as Muhammad Afzal, was killed. He was stationed at the Gawalmandi police station. Forty other police officers were injured in the protest. They were immediately rushed to the Mayo Hospital and Kot Khawaja Saeed Hospital.
Four FIRs have been registered against at least 20 TLP supporters at the Chung, Kot Lakhpat and Shahdara Town police stations. In Dera Ghazi Khan, TLP supporters gathered near the Ghazi Ghatt on Tuesday afternoon. When the police reached the site to disperse the crowd, the protesters attacked them with sticks and stones.
According to reports, 21 police officers were injured. They were immediately moved to a hospital for medical aid. Party workers will continue protests till they are told by the party chief, said spokesman of the TLP Akram Ashrafi.
He also said party workers had been martyred in firing incidents in Karachi, Lahore and Talagang. “The number of TLP workers martyred has risen to 12,” he said.
The TLP is protesting against blasphemous caricatures published in France and demanding that the French ambassador be sent home and import of goods from that country banned.
The government had reached an agreement with the TLP on Nov 16 to involve the parliament to decide the matter in three months. As the Feb 16 deadline neared, the government expressed its inability to implement that agreement and sought more time. The TLP agreed to delay its protest by two-and-a-half months to April 20.
All main cities like Lahore, Gujranwala, Islamabad and Peshawar were cut off from each other and the rest of the country. The activists held sit-ins at various points in Hyderabad and Sukkur. They blocked highways, motorways and train tracks, disrupting life in a better part of the country and causing violence as protesters clashed with police at many places.
Meanwhile, Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid said the disruption of oxygen supplies during protests on Monday night had been a “crisis”.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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