LAHORE: Punjab Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Cooperatives and Environmental Protection Basharat Raja has said all the sit-ins have been ended to clear roads and routes across the province.

He was addressing a meeting of the Punjab cabinet’s standing committee on law and order at the Civil Secretariat on Friday. The meeting also reviewed the security arrangements for the ongoing long march of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI).

Mr Raja said the workers ended the sit-ins and cleared the roads leading to the motorways on the instructions of PTI Chairman Imran Khan.

“In the next phase, all arrangements should be made for the long march in Jhelum and Mandi Bahauddin”, he said.

The cabinet committee was apprised that 4,100 police personnel and snipers had been deployed in Gujarat for the march’s security, while traffic police had also been assigned the duty.

Mr Raja said the PTI leadership did not make any provocative speeches during the long march, advising the the leaders of other political parties to also avoid such speeches.

He said there should be no “unnecessary” political activities during the long march. It was decided in the meeting that all shops containing inflammable materials would be shut down on the route of the long march.

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2022