Religious party ends protest after another agreement with government
Traffic resumes in Lahore, other areas; agreement includes FIRs over slain protesters, release of Zafarul Haq report
April 13, 2018
LAHORE: A religious party which had blocked several key routes in Lahore and other areas of the country since Thursday has called off its protest against the government.
However, the party has warned that if its demands are not adhered to, its members will resume blockage of roads in protest after the Friday prayers today.
Traffic resumed on the GT Road and at Lahore’s exit and entry points after the protest ended. Traffic also resumed at Karachi's Numaish Chowrangi locality where the party workers had staged a sit-in.
As part of the latest agreement with the Punjab government, the party’s demands of registering FIRs over the killing of its workers in Islamabad last year and releasing the Raja Zafarul Haq committee report have been agreed to.
Roads in several cities of the country were blocked on Thursday after activists of the religious party took to the streets.
The party's activists were demonstrating in various cities including Rawalpindi, Lahore, Sheikhupura, Gujranwala, Mandi Bahauddin and Peshawar.
The National Highway, which connects the country's two largest cities of Karachi and Lahore and several cities of Punjab province, was blocked at Pakka Meel, Chuhang, Mohlanwal, and Pattoki.
The Lahore district administration suspended the Metro Bus Service following the demonstrations and blockade of roads by the protesters.
Citizens were inconvenienced after long queues of traffic were formed due to the demonstrations.
The protest was underway at the motorway's Faizpur Interchange and Sheikhupura among other cities.
In Peshawar, the protesters demonstrated at Jameel Chowk. Long queues of traffic were formed on the Ring Road, as commuters were forced to use alternate routes.
The party had been protesting against the government at Faizabad Interchange of Islamabad for around three weeks in November last year, bringing the capital to a standstill.
The Zafarul Haq-led committee was formed to probe the issue of the amendment in the oath regarding the Finality of Prophethood when the Elections Act 2017 was passed last year.
The religious party was protesting against the amendment, which was later reversed by the government, and ended its protest after an agreement was reached with the government, which included the resignation of Law Minister Zahid Hamid.
