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| November 10, 2001 | Saturday | Shaba’an 23, 1422 |
Markets closed, traffic thin: 135 arrested in Lahore
LAHORE, Nov 9: Almost all markets in Lahore remained closed on Friday and most of the public transport was off roads.
Both, the Pak-Afghan Defence Council, which had called for a wheel-jam strike and the city administration which tried to thwart it through arrests, by firing teargas shells and occasional baton charge, claimed success and thanked the citizens for their cooperation.
The government had assured transporters and traders of protection and encouraged them to operate their businesses. While some of the traders said their businesses had been closed on account of Iqbal Day, others told reporters they had not found the official assurances convincing.
Many transporters operating from Badami Bagh and railway station hubs told Dawn they had decided against plying their vehicles for fear of being attacked. “Of course the police are there to protect us. But we cannot afford the risk,” they said. There were no wagon on the three routes to Mansoora.
Air and train services continued but the number of passengers, particularly during the day, was small.
The city district Nazim and senior police officers reportedly tried to persuade some traders in the Shah Alam Market to open their shops but failed to convince them.
While a much smaller number of people needed to travel in view of the holiday observed by all government offices, educational institutions, commercial centres and banks, many were left stranded.
The main markets which remained closed were Shah Alam Market, Azam Cloth Market, Rang Mahal’s readymade garments markets, Suha Bazaar, the Copper Market, the Kashmiri Bazaar, Brandreth Road’s hardware market, Akbari Mandi, Badami Bagh’s main auto-parts market, markets on the Circular Road, Anarkali, Gunpat Road, Urdu Bazaar, McLeod Road’s motorcycle and auto-parts markets, Ichhra, Ferozepur Road, Wahdat Road, The Mall, Beadon Road, Hall Road, Nila Gumbad’s bicycle markets and Gulberg’s Liberty Market, Main Market and Mini Market.
There was no strike in the main fruit and vegetable markets and supply of milk from suburban towns was not affected. Most of the medical stores were open and nobody tried to force them to close down. There were also no attack on any shop or public or private buildings.
On Multan Road, in Samanabad, Ichhra, Township, Green Town, Ravi Road, Karim Park, the Walled City and several other areas the retail shops, too, remained closed. On Walton Road and in Cavalry Ground area, however, such shops were opened.
Grocery, vegetable, fruit, milk, meat and poultry shops remained opened in most areas and there was no shortage of eatables.
PADC LEADERS: JI’s Amirul Azim, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam’s Maulana Mohibun Nabi and some leaders of the Difa-i-Islam Mahaz were arrested in the morning to prevent them from leading any demonstrations. There were attempts to arrest JI’s naib amir Liaquat Baloch, but he could not be located.
Police cordoned off Mansoora headquarters of the JI early in the morning and remained there till late in the afternoon. The Mansoora administration kept its two main gates closed.
Speaking at a hurriedly called news conference, JI’s Lahore amir Mian Maqsood and secretary Abdul Hafiz, SSP’s Mujibur Rahman Inqilabi, JUI’s Saifuddin Saif and JUP’s Engr Salimullah Khan termed the strike a big success. They praised and thanked the traders and transporters for responding to their call.
They also condemned the arrest of leaders and workers of the parties and threatened to call another strike if they were not released. They said a meeting of the heads of the council’s component parties would be held in Islamabad on Saturday.
Mian Maqsood alleged that the police had fired teargas shells even in the Mansoora Hospital. He held the Punjab governor responsible for the sporadic incidents of violence.
In a separate press release, JI’s naib amir Liaquat Baloch congratulated the people for making the wheel-jam strike a success all over the country. He said they had been established that they were with their Afghan brethren, hated the American aggression against Afghanistan and rejected government’s policies on the issue.
Mr Baloch said among others Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan and Pakistan Muslim League’s Raja Zafarul Haq will attend the PADC leaders’ meeting on Saturday.
A press release issued by the Difa-i-Islam Mahaz condemned the arrest of its main leaders.
JI’s Punjab amir Hafiz Idris and secretary general Azhar Iqbal Hasan condemned the police action against workers in Lahore, Dera Ghazi Khan, Multan, Leiah and other cities. They also condemned the killing of three workers in Dera Ghazi Khan.
Khaksar Tehrik’s Chief Hamiduddin Almashraqi the congratulated people for observing the strike. He also condemned the arrest of workers and leaders of religious parties and police action against them. He said a rally of the Tehrik’s women wing will be organized from Nasser Bagh to Faisal Chowk on Sunday.
POLICE VERSION: Asif Shahzad reported that according to police sources about 135 activists of various religious parties were arrested, some of them for trying to enforce strike.
Teargas and baton charge were used at some places to contain or disperse what the police described as rowdy activists throwing stones at riot police, damaging vehicles or trying to hold small rallies.
The roads adjacent to Jamaat-i-Islami’s headquarters at Mansoora were blocked by activists on several occasions during the day and police said three vehicles were damaged.
The Lahore SSP supervised the team which rounded up around 26 activists and used teargas to beat the activists back to the relative safety of the JI headquarters and a nearby college.
Four people riding two motorcycles reportedly stopped two buses in Allama Iqbal Town, smashed the windowpanes and tired to set them on fire. They were chased by a police patrol and rounded up in Township.
Eleven people were arrested near Sanda for trying to block Bund Road by burning tyres. Some people suffered minor injuries when the police tried to break up the crowd.
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