Daily Times

LAHORE: Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) chief Khadim Hussain Rizvi on Tuesday threatened to hold country-wide protests if the government failed to implement the Faizabad agreement in its entirety.

The agreement that led to the resignation of the then law minister, Zahid Hamid, immediately drew criticism from the public and was noticed by the Islamabad High Court as well for carrying signatures of a serving army officer and for mentioning the name of the Chief of the Army Staff as a broker.

Rizvi, who was declared an absconder later, has been leading a sit-in in front of the Data Darbar since Monday, demanding that all the conditions agreed upon in the agreement should be met. He said his party would announce a future course of action at a press conference at 4pm on Wednesday (today).

On Tuesday, traffic remained choked on The Mall and its adjacent roads on the second day due to the road block protest.

Labbaik activists gathered in front of the Data Darbar shrine blocked the road. The sit-in continued all day as activists chanted slogans against the government and the police. Later in the day, the protesters completely blocked the road from the Civil Secretariat onwards till Data Darbar.

While talking to Daily Times, the TYLRA activists said it was their divine right to guard the finality of the prophet-hood of Hazrat Muhammad (peace be upon him). They said that the government was trying to protect those who had tried to use the parliamentary forum to tamper with Islamic injunctions. They said this was not acceptable, adding that the ruling party claimed that members of the parliament could be removed only by voters, then it should also recognise the voters who were protesting on the streets for the sake of their faith.

Last year, TLYRA chief Khadim Rizvi had laid siege to the federal capital, protesting against an amendment in the Khatm-e-Nabuwwat clause – explained by the government as a clerical error. The demonstration ended after an agreement under which the then law minister resigned.

The deal also paved the way for release of all TLYRA workers and supporters who were arrested during the Faizabad sit-in, and removal of all cases pending against the TLYRA.

Later, Khadim Rizvi and Pir Afzal Qadri announced that if the negotiations weren’t respected and if the government failed to fulfil its end of the deal by April 4 (oday), then the party would announce a fresh round of country-wide protests.

A police officer requesting not to be named told Daily Times that on receiving directions from the high ups, all station house officers across the city had been asked to ensure implementation of strict security measures, with particular importance to religious places, markets, bazaars and other important public places like offices and residences within their respective areas.

SHOs serving in different police stations across the city, requesting anonymity, told Daily Times that they had beefed up arrangements in accordance with directives.

Meanwhile, Tuesday’s protest from Civil Secretariat to the darbar choked traffic on adjacent roads where long queues of vehicles could be observed throughout the day.

Traffic police remained unable to manage the load of vehicles. In fact, no wardens were present at many importance intersections in the nearby areas, adding to the woes of commuters.

Speaking to Daily Times, a commuter stuck on the Lower Mall said that since the authorities were already aware of the protest plans, they should have prepared a diversion plan to facilitate the commuters. He also complained that the traffic wardens were not performing duties as well as they should have given the load of vehicles on the road.

Published in Daily Times, April 4^th 2018.