Police made to bite more than they can chew

Remain on their toes to secure myriad of events taking place simultaneously

LAHORE:

The city police carried on a crackdown on kite flying along with dealing with challenges related of security and law during the past week.

Extensive security arrangements were made for Pakistan Super League (PSL) cricket matches, Mela Charaghan, Jashan-e-Baharan, marathon race, Aurat March and other cultural, religious and sports activities organised during the week.

The Punjab government imposed section 144 to thwart Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) rallies on Wednesday and Sunday. A serious law and order situation developed as the police resorted to the use of force to impose the ban.

A tussle between the police and PTI activists was predominant as a team of cops from Islamabad visited Zaman Park to serve a notice on the party chairman. The city police had been on alert to move forward for the compliance of court orders, if asked.

PTI activists were also put on alert to avert such a situation. Heavy contingents of police remained deployed in the surroundings of Zaman Park.

The hide and seek continued the whole week. After a court suspended the warrants for former prime minister Imran Khan, the PTI announced a rally on Wednesday. The Aurat March was scheduled the same day and the Lahore High Court had permitted it.

However, the provincial government imposed section 144, banning public gatherings and sit-ins for seven days.

A clash was reported, in which several PTI activists were arrested and injured. According to the police, an activist, Ali Bilal alias Zil-e-Shah, died in a road accident after being released near Fortress Stadium, but the PTI leadership claimed that he had been tortured to death.

The PTI rescheduled its rally on Sunday. However, on Sunday multiple activities were going on in the city, including a marathon race, Mela Charaghan, Jashan-e-Baharan and the PSL. Citing this, the government again imposed section 144 and the PTI rally was stopped.

Thousands of police personnel remained deployed for the security of the cultural and religious activities. Around 1,000 policemen had been deployed for the security of Mela Charaghan, over 8,000 for PSL matches, and a large number of others to guard polio vaccination teams and the cultural gatherings.

As the season changed, an upward trend in kite flying was observed. The traditional event of Basant, related to kite flying, was also marked in Lahore during these days in the past.

An unofficial announcement was made by some unidentified persons to celebrate Basant during the week, prompting Lahore police to launch a crackdown to curb the activity.

The police said on Friday that a special team had exposed a ‘kite flying association’ involved in the promotion and business of kite flying on Facebook and made arrests through a cyber operation. According to a police spokesman, the group was involved in organising kite flying competitions and online sale of metallic string and kites.

The police team arrested the suspected administrator of the group, Raja Arsal, from Rawalpindi and an active member, Kashif, from Gujranwala. The latter was also accused of promoting derogatory content about the police in the online group. A leader of the group, Mian Bilal, had left for abroad a week ago and legal steps were being pursued for his arrest.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 14^th, 2023.