LAHORE: The Punjab government says it will give a free hand to those planning to stage sit-ins in the provincial capital to highlight their issues.

“We won’t restrict any party to protest or stage a sit-in anywhere in the province to highlight their respective causes provided the activity remains within the bounds of law and decency,” Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan told Dawn here on Wednesday. He had been asked if the government would bar Pir Hameeduddin Sialvi and/or Dr Tahirul Qadri from protesting in Lahore.

Pir Sialvi had announced that he, along with his followers, would stage a sit-in outside the shrine of Hazrat Ali Hajveri from Jan 9 to force the Shahbaz government to remove Rana Sana from the cabinet.

He had challenged the government in Dera Ghazi Khan on Tuesday to bar him if it could from the protest.

Dr Qadri is seeking resignation of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Rana Sana for their alleged involvement in the Model Town tragedy. He is to announce his protest plan after Jan 7, the deadline he has set for the resignations during a recent multi-party conference.

Rana Sana says the government won’t bother even if the protesters choose The Mall as their venue for the sit-in because it’s already closed to traffic due to the Orange Line Metro Train construction activity.

“The Mall is free for staging sit-ins as long as the construction activity is going on there.”

Asked if closure of Bhati Chowk outside Data Sahib’s shrine throws traffic out of gear, the law minister said: “Other than Mall Road the protest will not have much impact on the city traffic or government.”

About Dr Qadri’s likely protest drive, he says the demand of the PAT chief has been met by making public the Justice Najafi Commission report on Model Town incident.

Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2018