LAHORE: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) staged a protest in the provincial capital against the proposed constitutional amendment and party founder Imran Khan's imprisonment on Friday.
The PTI party had given a nationwide protest call two days ago against the proposed constitutional package and the party founder's imprisonment that has been behind bars for more than a year in different cases.
Amid the imposition of Section 144 restrictions in Punjab, a group of PTI protestors gathered at the GPO Chowk (outside the Lahore High Court) in the presence of a large number of policemen. Since afternoon, the police with prison vans were stationed there to prevent protests, as the Punjab government had banned all kinds of demonstrations in the city after the recent students’ violent protests in the province. It had imposed Section 144 in the province for two days, October 18 and 19, besides announcing a holiday in all private and public schools, universities and colleges.
The PTI workers chanted slogans against the amendment and demanded immediate release of their leader. The police used force to disperse the crowd and arrested several PTI workers, including two female party activists (Tanzeela Imran and Ghazala Rafeeq), for violating Section 144.
It may be mentioned that, a day before, in his social media post PTI Central Punjab Acting President Hammad Azhar announced holding a protest at Liberty Chowk at 2 pm; however, at the eleventh hour, Azhar changed the protest’s venue to the GPO Chowk and the party loyalists were informed through a post on social media.
A heavy contingent of police with prison vans and water canon were also deputed at the Liberty Chowk.
In other parts of Punjab, the PTI loyalists held demonstrations. The PTI’s lawyer forum held a demonstration in Gujranwala against the proposed judicial package on the premises of a district and sessions court. In Sahiwal, police arrested PTI’s former MPA Rana Aftab and district president along with nine workers for organizing a protest at Bhandari Chowk in violation of Section 144.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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