September 06, 2007	Thursday	Sha'aban 23, 1428

RAWALPINDI, Sept 5: Women activists of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Wednesday staged a protest demonstration outside the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Press Club against the crackdown on fellow workers across the Punjab province.

Led by PML-N Punjab joint-secretary Seema Jilani, the protesters chanted anti-government slogans and condemned the swoop on PML-N loyalists.

They warned the government of serious consequences in case the police continued the onslaught against the PML-N supporters.

“I ask the authorities as to why the police raided homes of party workers and arrested them. This is a clear example of state terrorism and we will move the Supreme Court,” Ms Jilani said in her speech.

The PML-N office-bearer said the anti-encroachment squad of the Rawal Town Municipal Administration was being used to remove banners and placards of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. She termed the action discriminatory and unjustified.

The protesters unanimously demanded the release of all the detained workers of the PML-N and asked the authorities to publicly apologise to the innocent supporters who had been sent to jails without any reason.

The agitators said another protest demonstration would be observed by the PML-N in front of the Supreme Court building in Islamabad on Thursday.