LAHORE: After a brief relief, the residents of Model Town and Faisal Town on Tuesday were virtually besieged as the PML-N government blocked all arteries in these areas leading to Dr Tahirul Qadri’s residence by placing containers and barbed wire.

A visit to the both areas showed that even small streets and alleys were blocked by placing containers and barbed wire, confining thousands of people to their houses.

Earlier, on Aug 7, police had only placed containers on the main roads leading to Mr Qadri’s Minhajul Quran headquarters in M Block, Model Town. The residents of both localities then could at least leave for their workplaces in other city areas on their vehicles, but on Tuesday not even a motorcyclist could cross over the hurdles.

This is all being done to stop Dr Qadri from leaving Model Town to lead his revolution march on Aug 14.

The containers are also back on the roads leading to Jinnah Hospital, causing a great deal of inconvenience to patients and their attendants.

“Please write for us that the government has virtually converted our locality into a prison. On the night of Aug 10 we thought our ordeal was over when the barricades were removed (from the area). But the way police virtually locked us up in our houses on Tuesday is unimaginable,” Qadeer Hasan, a resident of D Block, Faisal Town, said.

Talking to Dawn, he said he could not go to his office on the Jail Road because the police had barricaded even the small alleys leading to the main roads. “Qadri does not live in Faisal Town. Why the government is treating us like his followers,” he asked.

The Model Town residents had similar views with regard to barricades.

“Today (on Tuesday), the police placed more containers, blocking our movement even on foot. Don’t they have any idea how we get daily use articles from the market,” Altaf Ahmed of K Block, Model Town, said.

“Why the government is punishing us with its ‘Qadri containment policy’. It is not our fault if Dr Qadri lives in the next block of Model Town,” he said.

“We are taking such extreme measures in these areas as we do not want Qadri to leave Model Town to lead his so-called revolution,” a source in the ruling PML-N told Dawn.

“We understand the problems of the residents of these areas but we have no other way to stop those intending to take law into their own hands,” he said.

Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) spokesman Qazi Faiz said: “No matter how many containers the PML-N government places to block Dr Qadri’s revolutionary caravan, we are determined to reach Islamabad by removing all hurdles.”

Meanwhile, an MQM delegation that brought food for the followers of Mr Qadri in Model Town was barred by police from reaching there. It was later allowed it to proceed.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2014