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SUKKUR, April 14: Railways divisional superintendent Chaudhry Nazir Ahmad on Thursday cancelled two Lahore-bound trains booked by People’s Party Parliamentarians Central Executive Committee member Islamuddin Shaikh. Mr Shaikh told Dawn that the party would go to the court against the decision. He had booked the trains, one from Sukkur and the other from Nawabshah to Lahore to welcome Asif Ali Zardari on April 16, by making advance payment of over Rs1.6 million.
The railways also cancelled several coaches booked from different railway stations by PPP leaders.
Sources said the federal government had directed the railways authorities to make sure that no train could depart for Lahore on April 15 and 16 and cancel all trains and coaches booked for Lahore.
It is said the government has also ordered DPOs throughout Sindh to stop those travelling through buses and wagons towards Lahore and the Punjab government has made arrangements to stop the vehicles at different places so that PPP activists could not reach Lahore.
Police authorities have also reportedly warned transporters against carrying PPP workers.
Mr Shaikh also condemned large-scale arrests of party activists throughout the country and reiterated that the PPP rally would be peaceful.
However, he made it clear that if the government continued with arrests of the PPP workers, party leaders, including MNAs and MPAs, would themselves offer arrests.
Meanwhile, Sindh PPP president Syed Qaim Ali Shah and MNA Syed Khurshid Ahmad Shah criticized the government for creating hurdles to stop a party caravan for Lahore to welcome Mr Zardari.
They told a press conference at the press club here on Thursday that the government had allowed the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal to stage a million march but it was not giving permission to the PPP to receive Mr Zaradri because the rulers were afraid of its strength.
They said the party’s caravan would start from Sukkur on Friday morning and warned that if the government created hurdles in its way, the participants would offer arrests.
They said the cancellation of chartered trains from Sukkur and Nawabshah to Lahore had proved that the government was afraid of PPP workers. They said the trains’ cancellation would be challenged in the court.
HYDERABAD: The PPP activists from Hyderabad have decided to leave for Lahore by road as they claim that their train reservations have been cancelled.
However, the Hyderabad railway station’s reservation in charge said 30 tickets had been got cancelled by PPP MPA Zahid Bhurgari.
MPA Bhurgari, who had got the reservations, told Dawn that the reservations were cancelled by the railways authorities all of a sudden, forcing them to leave by road for Lahore.
Around 350 PPP activists, including women, are leaving for Lahore in eight coaches.
A party source said they had been asked by the party leadership not to board any train given the fact that the trains could be stopped midway.
MIRPURKHAS: Over 100 PPP workers and office-bearers were arrested and their vehicles impounded to prevent them from going to Lahore to welcome Mr Zardari.
A Lahore-bound coach, carrying over 40 activists of Digri taluka, was intercepted by police at the Jarwari Shakh, and was impounded.
