LAHORE: Defying the cold weather, supporters of the Hazara community, led by the Majlis-i-Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM), on Friday set up more protest camps in and around the city, blocked all entry and exit points and isolated Lahore from the rest of the country.

By 4pm on Friday, the protesters had set up camps at Thokar Niaz Beg (Multan Road), Imamia Colony (GT Road) and Chungi Amar Sidhu (Ferozepur Road), blocking entry into and exit from the city. Participants at these sit-ins kept growing in intensity and number till this report was filed.

The Thokar Niaz Beg camp ended up blocking both the motorway and Multan Road, as did the one at Babu Sabu — yet another point some 10 kilometres short of Multan Road exit on the motorway. The Imamia Colony protest — at the railway crossing — not only suspended traffic on the GT Road, but also rail movement. The protest camp at Chungi Amar Sidhu cut off the city from suburban Kasur and countless housing schemes; it also hindered the Metro bus service, which was restricted mid-way on its route — up to Kalma Chowk.

The traffic chaos peaked when the protesters camping outside Governor House on The Mall since Wednesday blocked the main artery.

According to the organisers, the protest in Chakwal had blocked the Lahore-Islamabad motorway right in the middle and another sit-in at Sharaqpur (a town in the Lahore suburbs) suspended traffic between Lahore-Multan and onwards to Karachi.

Meanwhile, leaders of all major political and religious parties and civil society organisations made a beeline for the protest site outside Governor House in Lahore and promised “all-out support”.

Azma Zahid Bukhari of the PML-N was the first one to reach the spot to say that her party supported the community purely on humanitarian, and not political, basis.

“The prime minister rubbed salt on the wounds of the community by linking his visit to the burial of the bodies and telling the Hazaras not to blackmail him. This is inhuman to say the least,” she stressed.

Addressing the protesters, Abdul Khaliq Assadi of the MWM, regretted the prime minister’s remarks, saying that such statements did not befit the office of the chief executive of the country, who not only insulted the Hazara community, but his office as well. “He should get out of his egotistic groove and raise himself to the humanitarian level: go to Quetta, console the victims’ families and attend the burial. Until then, the protest will not only continue, but spread across the country,” he regretted, and warned:

“Protesters are so far blocking roads only. However, as a next step, they will block rail and air operations as well, bringing life to a complete halt in the country.”

Similar large protests blocking main roads for traffic were held in various parts of the province, including areas of Muzaffargarh district, Okara, Bahawalpur and Kasur.

These protests were attended by people from various political parties, civil society organisations and religious sects, who took out processions, shouted anti-government slogans, carried banners and placards calling out the authorities for failing to protect the lives of people.

Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2021