Cordoning off: Authorities impound dozens of containers

City govt allows PTI to stage rally after obtaining 39-point undertaking

LAHORE: The police and city administration have impounded dozens of containers apparently to cordon off the Sharif family’s palatial residence in Raiwind from the venue of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) rally at Adda plot.

Pakistan Goods Transporters Association General Secretary Nabeel Mahmood Tariq told The Express Tribune on Thursday that containers were taken away from different parts of the city for the PTI’s Raiwind March.

“It seems Lahore police is on a container-seizing spree. Earlier police impounded containers for farmers protest on Mall Road and now they are seizing containers for the Raiwind rally,” he said.

He added the government had made it a practice to use cargo containers for blocking roads during protests and rallies but it could prove fatal as container vehicles contain fuel. “Several trucks and containers have been burnt in the past during agitations but no one is listening to the transporters’ apprehensions,” he maintained.

Lahore District Coordination Officer Muhammad Usman has already granted conditional permission to the PTI for holding a public gathering at Adda plot on  Raiwind Road.



The city government’s permission documents, available with The Express Tribune, reveals the district government has obtained a 39-point undertaking from the PTI leadership for holding a public gathering some three miles away from the prime minister’s residence.

In the permission letter, the city government has warned the PTI leadership of security concerns at public gatherings, public places and threats to Lahore district and advised them not to hold public gathering.

The city government advised the PTI leaders to shift the venue of the gathering to an open plot where traffic and emergency services hindrances could be controlled effectively. However, the authorities allowed the PTI leadership to hold the rally at the Adda Plot venue on a series of conditions.

A city government spokesman said all arrangement had been to protect the prime minister’s residence. Containers would be used to block all roads leading to the Sharif family’s residence to avoid any untoward incident.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 30^th, 2016.