LAHORE: The Mohsin Naqvi administration on Friday cut a sorry figure for poor governance as police violated its order and pounced on traders in the city in connection with smog lockdown.

Caretaker Chief Minister Naqvi was completely clueless as to why the Lahore police were taking action against the traders for opening their businesses despite his administration’s notification which only barred them from doing business on Saturday and Sunday (Nov 11 and 12) to mitigate the smog impact.

To the surprise of the business community and poor coordination of the Naqvi administration, Lahore police launched a crackdown on different markets of the city, baton-charging and arresting the shopkeepers. When the traders’ community protested against the police action, the CM took notice of the matter and ordered the police high-ups to halt the operation.

“The CM has taken strong notice of the unwarranted closure of markets and shops in certain areas. He has clarified that no directive was issued by the caretaker Punjab government to shut down markets and shops for Nov 10 (Friday),” the government said in a statement.

Markets allowed to remain open faced crackdown in violation of govt orders

In response to the smog situation, Navi said the decision was made to only close shops and markets on Nov 11 (Saturday).

“On a personal note and on behalf of the Punjab government, I express gratitude to the business community for their cooperation in this matter,” he said and emphasized that addressing smog was a collective national responsibility and we all must collaborate for healthy life of the people of Lahore and other cities.

“Support for the government’s initiatives is crucial, and by working together, we can effectively combat this environmental challenge.”

Asked by Dawn how come the Lahore police launched a crackdown on the traders despite a clear notification of the provincial government, caretaker information minister Amir Mir said: “The police are in a better position to respond to this query as I cannot comment on this.”

Lahore police chief Bilal Siddique Kamyana told Dawn no crackdown was launched on the traders for opening businesses on Friday.

“Police personnel were deployed in the city only to ensure smart lockdown. However, the government had announced closure of the markets for four days – Nov 9 to 12,” he insisted, almost contradicting his own statement.

Despite the embarrassment the Naqvi administration faced for violation of its order by the police, it showed no intention to hold an inquiry into the matter.

“Since Mr Kamyana enjoys good relations with Mr Naqvi, the latter overlooked the matter,” a source privy to the development said.

All Pakistan Anjuman Tajiran leader Naeem Mir told a presser that the union had held a meeting with Lahore Commissioner Muhammad Ali Randhawa in which they agreed to keep businesses open on Nov 9 and 10 while shutting the markets on Nov 11 and 12.

“However, police pounced on the shopkeepers in various markets, asking them to close shops in clear violation of the agreement between traders and the commissioner and the government notification,” he said.

Mir said the government had promised to lift the smart lockdown if the city had rain.

“Now the government should keep its words as Lahore received rain today clearing the smog,” he said and demanded an immediate end to the lockdown.

The caretakers had imposed an ‘environmental and health emergency’ in Lahore, Gujranwala and Hafizabad from Nov 9 to 12 to mitigate the impact of smog.

In Lahore, the air quality index (AQI) readings had remained hazardous for the last two weeks.

Published in Dawn, November 11th, 2023