May 06, 2007	Sunday	Rabi-us-Sani 18, 1428

LAHORE, May 5: Banners and flags hoisted by lawyers and opposition parties protesting presidential reference against the ‘suspended’ chief justice of Pakistan gave a colourful look to The Mall as the CJP was to address a Lahore High Court Bar Association’s reception on the LHC premises on Saturday evening.

The police sprang into action around 2pm and blocked all entrances to the road to stop the masses from participating in the event.

The ruling PML also arranged a rally at Laxmi Chowk, close to the venue for the reception, to show its support among the lawyers as well as the masses. Attendance in the ‘sarkari’ rally reportedly remained thin.

The simultaneous ‘show of power’ by the government and the lawyers backed by opposition parties created a difficult situation for the public- and private-sector employees, students and traders who had to travel through the road to reach their offices, institutions, shops and other destinations.

Opposition parties’ workers assembled at the GPO Chowk on The Mall outside the LHC building as lawyers decided that their event should remain ‘free from politicking’.

The latter promised to install four large multi-media screens on The Mall so that those present there could see live coverage of the CJP’s address to the LHCBA meeting. However, such an arrangement could not be made and no one was available to comment whether the government disallowed it or it was due to some other reason.

Disturbance in the flow of traffic started around 2pm when the police erected barricades, and at some places put containers on the roads linking The Mall from Lower Mall up to the Lahore Branch Canal bridge.

Commuters were seen marching on foot to reach their destinations as the public transport on the route had also been halted.

Motorists were directed towards other routes and no one was allowed to pass through The Mall in whatsoever emergency he or she was.

Containers were placed on the routes, like McLeod Road, Hall Road, etc., leading to Laxmi Chowk from The Mall to prevent mixing of and clash between the pro and anti-government activists.

The police started forcing the traders on The Mall to shut their businesses in the afternoon, though some of them argued that the CJP procession’s arrival was too late.

The policemen, doing the job on an official vehicle (LXC-2335), said they were only requesting the traders to close their shops for fear of any damage to them in the wake of arrival of local activists of various parties on The Mall.

Lawyers had set up their stage on the LHC premises while the PPP, the PML-N and the MMA made their separate arrangements at the GPO Chowk where their jubilant activists were raising slogans against the government and in favour of the CJP as well as their respective parties’ leaders.

Some of them were so zealous that they were dancing to the anthems being played on loudspeakers of various podiums. A majority of the jubilant activists was youngsters.

There were banners and flags of various opposition parties and posters of the CJP all along The Mall and the show was at its peak at the GPO Chowk.

Some of the banners read: “Attack on judiciary is unacceptable”, “CJP Iftikhar Chaudhry, we are with you”, “Along CJP Iftikhar Chaudhry along the masses”, etc. Some caricatures of Gen Pervez Musharraf inscribed with “Save judiciary” and “War will continue until independence of judiciary” were also seen.

Some political parties had set up their reception camps at Data Darbar Chowk, Azadi Chowk, Niazi Chowk and Shahdara too where hundreds of political activists and citizens were anxiously waiting for the arrival of the CJP.

The camps were also giving a look of traditional fairs as people were performing bhangras.

There were reports that several processions of lawyers and opposition parties’ activists coming from other parts of Punjab were stopped at various places and not allowed to enter the provincial metropolis.

Despite all obstacles, at least 10,000 people assembled at the GPO Chowk by 7pm to receive the CJP. The number started to shot up as various processions from outside the city began to reach there.

The unusual gathering of citizens on The Mall increased as the night got darker. Many groups had placed chairs on the road and were holding small ‘corner meetings’ against the government. With the swelling of the crowd, the number of banners expressing feelings of the people too increased.

The police opened The Mall late in the evening, but did not allow the motorists to go beyond Regal Chowk. The law enforcers kept the LHC building cordoned off and only a few pedestrians were permitted to go pass the area to reach GPO Chowk to attend the reception.

The activists gathering at camps on Lower Mall and other areas were upbeat as they heard reports that the CJP was being given warm welcome at various towns on GT Road.

Earlier, all manpower and machinery of the City District Government Lahore were utilised to make the ruling PML’s rally a success.

Attendance at the CDGL offices was extremely low as thousands of employees of the solid waste management, education and health departments had been put on hold in various city areas since morning. They were to gather at the town level from where they were scheduled to join the Laxmi Chowk rally in processions of buses and SWM trucks.

All the official meetings of the CDGL scheduled for Saturday were cancelled to enable the officers monitor the arrangements like availability of food and drinking water, and ensure attendance of officials in the rally.

The participants were provided lunch before being driven to the venue.

“The bureaucracy has to show that it can manage any event better than the police do,” one of the tired-looking officers commented.

Besides making available its staff as participants, the CDGL was also supposed to provide party flags and banners and preparations in this regard were seen going on in the lawns of the Town Hall.