LAHORE: The Lahore office of the Move On Pakistan, the party in the spotlight for displaying posters in favour of the army chief, came under attack by unknown people, Dawn learnt on Wednesday.

Witnesses say a group of men visited the office of the party in a plaza on The Mall on Tuesday. They shouted slogans with some of them trying to enter the office which was locked at the time.

However, the group fled as soon as security guards at the plaza raised alarm. As they ran away, some of them sprayed paint on a poster displayed outside the office which carried the picture of the head of the Move On Pakistan party.

“Some elements wanted to create panic through this cowardly attack but the party has decided to face them with determination,” a Move On Pakistan party’s representative, Ayesha Khan, told Dawn.

Quoting witnesses, she said the unknown intruders hurled threats.

She said she did not report the incident to the police since she had not received any instructions from the party command in this respect.

Move On Pakistan party’s Punjab secretary general Mian Yasir condemned the attack alleging that the provincial government was behind the act.

He said the Punjab government had removed banners appealing for intervention by the army chief from the city and other parts of the province within hours after they were put up.

He said his party’s leadership planned to hold events to register support for Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif and a final schedule of these activities would be announced in the coming days.

While defending the stance of inviting the army chief to impose martial law in the country, Mr Yasir said the party membership had reached 100,000 members in Lahore alone, with a great upsurge in the number over the past few weeks.

He said the party was going to arrange a big show of strength in Punjab and details of it would be shared with media at a press briefing soon.

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2016