LAHORE: Life came to a halt on Saturday, as citizens remained confined to their respective offices and houses for several hours due to the deteriorating situation of law and order in the provincial capital. People faced numerous problems due to daylong protests and sit-in demonstrations in different parts of the city against the government in reaction to the operation launched against members of religious parties camped at Faizabad Interchange. City’s major markets, shops, plazas, business centres and Metro Bus Service remained closed for the day due to security reasons and to avoid any untoward incident in the wake of protests. Commuters also bore the brunt of protesters’ anger, as they had blocked the city roads forcefully. After the operation began, thousands of religious parties’ workers started gathering in their specific areas and blocked roads by placing barriers, bikes and burning tyres. Protesters staged sit-in demonstrations at 16 different points of the city, putting under lockdown areas like Imamia Colony, Shahdara, Babu Sabu Interchange, Sundar, Chung, Mohlanwal, Manga Mandi, Chungi Amar Sadhu (Ferozepur Road), Thokar Niaz Baig, Mall Road in front of Punjab Assembly, and many other points. Stick-wielding activists had also blocked the Multan Road and staged a sit-in at Thokar Niaz Baig, which continued until the filing of this report. In the evening, the protesters also blocked the Saggian Wala Bypass Road near Flower Market using trucks and other vehicles. As a result, people were trapped in traffic jams for several hours. They were seen requesting the protesters to let them leave, which led to minor quarrels between the citizens and the protesters. Several commuters, particularly motorcyclists, forcefully crossed the barricades after exchanging harsh words with the protesters. Many ambulances found it hard to reach hospitals in time due to the blockades. Stick-wielding protesters were seen trying to scare road users (people) for removing the barriers that had been placed by them. Seeing the situation, the Lahore deputy commissioner wrote a letter to additional secretary (internal security), government of Punjab, which read: “In wake of the current security scenario with respect to the protests/rallies at different places of Lahore by members of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah, it is requested that Ranger troops may kindly be requisitioned to avoid any untoward incident/mishap.” People were also seen trying to contact their loved ones on their cell phones, asking about their safety. Several schools had arranged recreational trips for their students, but they were also stuck in traffic until the filing of this report. Parents remained waiting for their children at schools and stayed in touch with the school administrations. The Metro Bus Service was also suspended due to security reasons and commuters also faced several problems moving from one place to the other. The Punjab Mass-transit Authority said that the service would remain suspended until the protests settled down. On the other hand, PEMRA orders put citizens in more anxiety after several news channels went off air and access to social media websites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube remained “denied” across the country. Several parents approached the schools personally for picking up their children. The parents said that it was very dangerous for children to commute by public transport in view of the worsening situation of law and order, for which they had personally reached schools to pick their children. The citizens criticised both the government and the protesters for creating this situation. Talking to Daily Times, a shopkeeper who runs a burger shop on The Mall said that his business had been disturbed due to the protest. “My house kitchen is totally dependent on my daily sale, which has remained very low today.” Another shopkeeper of the area demanded that the authorities take action against those who believed that no one would harm them. Published in Daily Times, November 26th 2017.