Nisar expresses concern over growing number of protests in country

TAXILA: Former Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar on Saturday expressed his concern over growing number of countrywide protests as he said it is setting a wrong precedent.

Addressing a media conference here, Chaudhry Nisar said the protests must be curbed in order to let the country move forward.

He said he was not against the protests as a right to citizens but it should not affect the routine life.

Coming on Faizabad Interchange sit-in, the former interior minister said the protest at the arterial intersection paralyzed the twin cities. He reiterated his previous stance that no political party should be allowed to camp out at Faizabad Interchange.

He reasoned that occupying the artery will block the traffic movement between Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

Nisar also spoke about the interior minister’s incompetence to tackle the issue, as what he claimed, the police and FC personnel were capable to evict the main artery from the protesters.

“This was not the first sit-in in Islamabad, only the difference is the previous interior minister stood by his administration,” he said.

Moreover, he maintained that no casualty took place outside his residence in Rawalpindi. “Not a single person was hurt outside my residence,” he underscored.

It merits mentioning here that the law enforcement agencies on Saturday launched a crackdown against Tehreek-e-Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLYRA) supporters and workers to evict them from Faizabad Interchange, who had camped out at the Faizabad Interchange for over three weeks. Hospital sources say at least five people were killed while 188 others were injured during the operation.

The government shut social media and asked the PEMRA to turn the private TV news channel off-air across Pakistan after the protest spread to several other cities of the country.