LAHORE: Following the disqualification of PTI chairman Imran Khan in the Toshakhana reference by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), thousands of its workers took to the street, burnt tyres and blocked several roads of the city.

Protests also erupted in many parts of Punjab, where the people chanted slogans condemning the ECP decision.

A group of PTI activists reached the metro bus track on Lahore’s Ferozepur Road and suspended the service besides closing major roads and intersections. Shahdara Morr, Ring Road at Harbanspura, Thokhar Niaz Baig, Babu Sabu, Multan Road, Jail Road, Lahore Canal, The Mall, Samanabad Chowk, Kalma Chowk, Liberty Roundabout, Akbar Chowk, Bhatta Chowk, Yatim Khana Chowk, Gulshan-i-Ravi and Chauburji were blocked by the protesters who vent anguish on the motorists.

The charged workers raised slogans against the federal government and the ECP and declared the decision a ‘cruel one’. The party leaders and workers also staged sit-ins at many points of the city. Reports said vehicles having families, and ambulances got stuck on the roads due to the agitation.

The city traffic police released an alternative plan in the evening. Motorists faced a great deal of inconvenience as the PTI supporters first thronged roads to block the entry-exit passages of the provincial capital. A group of a few hundred workers, holding clubs and hard objects, assembled at Shahdara Morr and blocked it.

A mob thrashed motorists, rickshaw drivers and others when they argued with the protesters to get passage to reach their destinations. The workers burnt tyres and raised slogans in favour of their leader Imran Khan.

Similarly, nearly 200 workers of the party gathered at Chungi Amar Sidhu, Kahna and Nisthar Colony. Some of them staged a sit-in at the metro bus track and suspended its service. They also blocked the traffic on both sides of Chungi Amar Sindhu, forcing the motorists to use the nearby streets.

The city police authorities as well as the traffic wardens failed to deliver. The traffic police suggested the motorists to take help from ‘Rasta FM 88.6 App’ to avoid inconvenience.

BAHAWALPUR: A number of PTI activists including women assembled at Sutlej Highway Bridge linking Lahore and Karachi. The protesters were led by MPA Samiullah Chaudhry and others at the bridge and caravans of leaders and workers from Khairpur Tamewali and Hasilpur also joined the protesters.

The mob burnt tyres and demonstrated with intervals besides blocking one side of the dual carriageway.

RAHIM YAR KHAN: A good number of PTI leaders and workers blocked Sukkur-Multan Motorway (M-5) at Mureed Shakh and Iqbalabad interchanges. Traffic remained suspended for more than three hours between Taranda Muhammad Pannah and Mureed Shakh interchange.

Many workers reached Kot Sabzal on Punjab-Sindh border on the national highway and threw traffic out of gear. Similarly, the PTI workers staged protests at Sadiqabad Bypass chowk and Iqbalabad on the national highway.

Protests were also held in Muzaffargarh, Faisalabad, Toba Tek Singh, Okara and Gujranwala. In Faisalabad, the party supporters first gathered at District Council chowk and then spread to other places. Former federal minister of state for information and broadcasting Farrukh Habib, former provincial minister Khial Kastro, MPAs Waheed Shahid, Sheikh Khurram Shahzad and Begum Firdous Rai condemned the ECP decision. The demonstrators also blocked traffic on Jhang, Sargodha, Samundri and Sheikhupura roads.

Protests erupted in Muzaffargarh, Kot Addu and Layyah districts and the charged-up supporters hit out at the ECP for announcing a “premeditated decision”. Engineer Bilal Khar led one of the groups of protesters and public representatives also turned up.

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2022