June 07, 2007	Thursday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 21, 1428

BAHAWALPUR, June 6: Hundreds of activists of various political parties, who had been taken into custody in a province-wide crackdown in the last three days, will be detained for 90 days, it is learnt on Wednesday.

According to a police source, the decision has been taken at the highest level to detain the opposition workers to control the rising protest over curbs imposed on the electronic media in the shape of the amended Pemra ordinance.

He said the 11 activists, rounded up from the six tehsils of Bahawalpur the other day, were detained under section 3-MPO for three months. The workers of the PPP, the PML-N and the JI were detained at the central jail. An activist, Dr Hadi Hassan of JI, was released on health grounds.

The Bahawalpur Union of Journalists (Barna Group), led by president Amin Abbasi, demonstrated outside the press club against the Pemra ordinance, suspension of private TV channels’ programmes and registration of cases against journalists in Islamabad.

The protesting journalists, including Zahid Khan and Majeed Gill, had carried placards and worn black armbands. They demanded withdrawal of the restrictions and announced continuation of struggle till the acceptance of their demands.

Local lawyers also protested against the police crackdown and restrictions on the media.

GUJRANWALA: Those held in this part of the province were sent to the Faisalabad jail for three months.

The government, it is reported, wanted to avert any reaction against the Pemra ordinance and ordered the police to arrest the leaders and workers of the opposition parties.

TOBA TEK SINGH: PPP activist Chaudhy Zulfiqar Ali was detained on Wednesday for three months. He was arrested by the city police on Tuesday in crackdown against political activists.

Another PPP activist, advocate Safdar Nasir, was released on the demand of the district bar association.

SIALKOT: The police continued a crackdown on the activists of the opposition political parties and arrested another 34 of them in Sialkot and Narowal.

A day earlier, the police had arrested more than 56 workers of the PML-N, the PPP and the MMA.

SAHIWAL: Police arrested two more activists of political parties, raising the total number of arrests to 10.

Those arrested are Jamaat-i-Islami’s Kassowal amir Malak Amir Akthar and PPP Chichawatni secretary-general Muhammad Arshad Sheikh.

Police had earlier held eight leaders belonging to the MMA, the PPP and the PML-N. They are: Dr Abdul Qadeer Lashari, A D Chaudhry, Qamar Sultan Kathia, Mohsin Sardar, Masoodul Hasan Ramay, Muhammad Tahir, Tahir Mukhtar and Maulana Ahmad Yar Siddiqui. It is reported that they have been kept in different police lockups where they have not been allowed to meet their relatives and friends.