Rangers called in Lahore as PAT-led protest goes underway

LAHORE: Rangers paramilitary force has been called in Lahore to keep law and order situation under control as Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) led joint opposition protest goes underway in Lahore.

The protest rally is scheduled to kick off at noon and all routes from Chairing Cross Chowk to GPO Chowk have been blocked for all traffic.

The united opposition, which includes Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Awami Muslim League (AML), Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT), has announced the commencement of anti-government protests.

The movement is aimed at mounting pressure on Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Minister for Law Rana Sanaullah to resign for their alleged role in the 2014 Model Town incident which resulted in deaths of PAT members.

Earlier, on Monday a bench of Lahore High Court (LHC) rejected a petition to restrain the Pakistan Awami Tehreek-led political alliance from launching their protest drive from January 17 and referred the case to LHC Chief Justice Mansoor Ali Shah to constitute a larger bench to hear the case.

The Punjab Higher Education Department (PHED) has closed all public education institutions on Mall Road. A notification was also issued on Tuesday in this regards, which stated that Government College University, University of Punjab (Old Campus) and National College of Arts would remain closed on Wednesday..