RAWALPINDI: Following the police attack on the workers of Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) and Tehreek Minhajul Quran (TMQ), the party activists in Rawalpindi and Islamabad took to the streets on Tuesday evening. They blocked Faizabad intersection, which links both cities, to register their protest against the government over the killing of their party workers in Lahore.

Earlier on Tuesday, a clash broke out in Lahore, between the police and PAT protesters, after law enforcement agencies tried to remove barriers in front of the Party Chief Dr Tahirul Qadri’s residence in Model Town Lahore. Resultantly seven people, including a teenager and two women, were killed.

The party, however, claims that the number of those killed is as high as 12. As many as 80 people were also injured, while around 70 others were arrested. Personnel from at least 12 police stations had been called to control the clashes. According to sources, there were around 1,000 police officials at the scene.More than 600 workers and sympathisers of PAT and TMQ, led by Ahmed Nawaz Anjum, Sardar Mansoor and Shoaib Tahir, gathered at Faizabad and staged a sit-in which started at 6pm.

Members of other parties, including PTI, join the protest in solidarity

The protesters chanted slogans against the Punjab government, the chief minister and the provincial law minister, for using police force to kill people. They also demanded resignation of the Punjab cabinet.

Due to the protest, traffic coming from Murree and Islamabad had to be diverted to alternative routes, resulting in long queues of vehicles on Islamabad Expressway and Murree Road.

To express solidarity with the protesters, many political leaders, including President Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) Javed Hashmi arrived at the sit-in.

They remained with the protesters for some time and condemned the police action on PAT workers in Lahore.

Speaking to the gathering, PAT leaders refused to accept the judicial commission and said the ‘trader-led’ government should resign for killing innocent people. They said the government of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) wanted to damage the unity of the nation in the wake of the operation in North Waziristan.

PAT leader Ahmed Nawaz Anjum said the incident in Lahore exposed the claims of the government about respecting democratic norms. “The government, which failed to protect lives of the people, should be removed,” he demanded.

“We want to change the present system and planned to bring a peaceful rally to highlight the bad governance of the ruling elite. The PML-N government in Punjab proved that it does not respect freedom of speech or the right to protest against the government,” he said.

Mr Anjum further said Dr Tahirul Qadri will come to Pakistan as per schedule and people will go to Lahore under his leadership to change the system which does not value the lives of people.

PAT Deputy General Secretary Sardar Mansoor said the government was “scared of Dr Qadri’s popularity” and used police force to kill people, instead of taking measures to protect their lives and maintain law and order situation in the backdrop of a military operation in North Waziristan.

Talking to Dawn, PAT Rawalpindi Information Secretary Suhail Abbasi said the basic aim of the sit-in at Faizabad was to record the protest against the Lahore killings.

“The only compensation for the lost lives would be to change the system and give rights to the people, which have been enshrined in the constitution. Trader-rulers will give money as compensation, but we demand change in the system and the provision of rights to the people,” he said.

He finally said there were no changes in the schedule of the rally from Rawalpindi to Lahore, which will be led by Dr Qadri. “We are not afraid of the government and its police action. We are committed to bringing our rally and flush out all evils from the country,” he said.

Meanwhile, members of PAT in Chakwal also staged a sit-in at Bhoun Chowk where they stayed for almost four hours and blocked traffic. They condemned the killing of their fellow party workers, and claimed that this incident will lead to Shahbaz Sharif’s downfall. They ended the sit-in in the evening and dispersed peacefully.

Published in Dawn, June 18th, 2014