The imposition of Section 144 by the Punjab government on The Mall for not holding rallies has become a joke, as rallies are taken out on a regular basis and the provincial government is not taking any serious action for controlling them.
In recent weeks, demonstrations were often held and no action was taken against anyone. On Tuesday, hundreds of employees of the LESCO and power sector held a protest on The Mall against privatisation of PEPCO and appointment of private chief executives in distribution companies. The protesters said that if privatisation orders were not withdrawn, power supply to all government departments, including the Parliament House, will be suspended. Protesters also marched from Al-hamra Hall to WAPDA House and chanted slogans against the government and demanded stopping privatisation of the power sector. Traffic on The Mall and surrounding roads was choked and commuters had to face huge problems. Protesters said that the government had privatised the KESC, which was a failed experience but even then the government had planned to privatise power companies. “We will not allow privatisation of any company,” protesters said adding that they will shut down distribution companies if the government tried to privatise these organisations.
They chanted slogans and demanded that the decision to be withdrawn immediately. Protesters said that privatisation will cause massive unemployment and at the same time unchecked hike in power prices. Protests of power sector employees were also held in other cities, including Faisalabad, Multan and Rawalpindi. During the time of protest, traffic mess caused problems for commuters. Traffic on Egerton Road, Davis Road, McLeod Road and other nearby roads was choked and people had to wait for hours. “The government should take action against demonstrators and ask them not to block roads so that traffic could flow smoothly,” motorist Saad Farooq said, Traders also faced problems due to rallies and asked the Punjab government to take serious action against such rallies so that they could run their businesses. Traders said that the Lahore High Court had already ordered not to hold protests on The Mall but the government had failed to implement even those orders. Amin Mazhar Butt, general secretary, Anjuman-e-Tajran Electronics Hall Road and Link McLeod Road said that the LHC order was very clear about rallies on The Mall but no one was implementing these orders.
Punjab government spokesman Pervaiz Rashid and Lahore District Coordinating Officer Ahad Cheema were not available for comments despite repeated attempts.
