Public order: CM says securing citizens’ lives is state’s responsibility

Former prime minister Jamali calls on Sharif.

LAHORE:

Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Tuesday that securing citizens’ lives and properties was the responsibility of the state.

He was speaking at a meeting convened to review the law and order situation in the province. Sharif directed the police to efficiently discharge its duty to maintain order. He said emergency measures had been taken in the wake of the prevalent state of affairs. Sharif said security arrangements should be reviewed regularly. He said strict monitoring of entry and exit points to the Punjab should continue. Sharif said full benefit should be derived from a consolidated intelligence system to foil the designs of anti-state elements.



Sharif said extraordinary circumstances demanded extraordinary measures. He said requisite security arrangements had been made at educational institutions province-wide due to this. Sharif said the National Action Plan (NAP) had been unanimously formulated to rid the nation of terrorism. He said the plan’s implementation had been yielding positive results. Sharif said all departments had been working in concert to ensure the effective implementation of quick decisions taken after the formulation of the NAP.  He said some laws had been amended to make sentences more stringent. Sharif said the prohibition on misuse of loudspeakers, printing and proliferating hate literature and chalking graffiti should be strictly enforced. He said action should be taken against those guilty of flouting the regulations. Sharif said the nation was united in the war against terrorism. He said the nation would be rid of the scourge soon and Pakistan would become a haven of peace and harmony.

Former PM calls on Sharif

Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said there was no room for anti-state elements and their sympathisers in the national fold. He was speaking to former prime minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali. Sharif said the entire nation was determined to rid Pakistan of terrorism, extremism and sectarianism. He said terrorism would be eradicated with national unity.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 25^th, 2015.