Citizens demand end to protests on roads

Say alternative venue should be provided to protesters at Liaqat Bagh

RAWALPINDI:

Business owners, lawyers, local leaders and citizens of Rawalpindi have demanded that protests should be banned on the roads.

They said that a separate “protest centre” should be set up inside Liaquat Bagh for demonstrations.

They further demanded that officials from the organisation, against whom the protest may take place, should also be in attendance at the venue to address their demands. They said that this would allow the representatives to take note of the protesters’ demands and convey them to the authorities concerned.

They said that non-bailable cases should be filed against troublemakers.

Further, if any death were to occur in an ambulance because of a protest, a case should be registered against the caller of the protest. Citizens have also demanded that the dissidents should be forced to carry banners on the sidewalks.

Several individuals also demanded an immediate ban on protest on Murree Road, Fawara Chowk, Raja Bazaar, Liaquat Road, Faizabad, as they constitute the busiest roads in the city. They urged cases should be registered against any leader who calls for protest in these particular areas.

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Murree Road business owners and residents said that resulting blockages bring educational institutes, hospitals, and local shops to a screeching halt. They demanded that protests should be banned on the road immediately.

Shaikh Nadeem, Akbar Khan, said that demonstrations on Fawara Chowk, Raja Bazaar, Bara Bazaar should be declared a crime.

Senior advocates of the High Court Bar Masood Al-Hassan, Sabteen Bukhari, and Najaf Al-Hasnain said that street protests threatened human lives.

While citizens Nasir Mirza, Abdul Qaddos said that their family members were often stuck due to blockages, and that this infringed on their fundamental rights guaranteed under the constitution.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 4^th, 2021.