Long march of Tehreek-e-Labeek: Protesters stay on GT Road
''Attempts by the banned Tehreek-e-Lubaik Pakistan (TLP) to stop the participants of the 'Long March' in Lahore have failed and the convoy is now moving from Lahore to Islamabad via GT Road''.
According to details participants in the caravan will resume their journey on Sunday from the outskirts of Muridke in Gujranwala district.
Punjab police initially tried several times to stop the convoy in Lahore and then in Sheikhupura district, but failed. However, Tehreek-e-Libek sources said that after leaving Kala Shah Kaku, they did not face any obstacle from the police till Muridke.
At least two policemen have been killed in clashes between protesters and police since Friday evening. A spokesman for the Libek movement also claimed that dozens of workers had been injured and several had been killed.
Police officials say more than 50 policemen, including a DSP and two SHOs, were injured in the pelting with stones by convoy participants.
Lahore Police Chief Ghulam Mehmood Dogar inspected the injured personnel at Ganga Ram and Services Hospital in Lahore.
While the internet service suspended in Lahore has been restored after the convoy left Lahore, the authorities have issued orders to suspend internet service in Muridke, Kamunki, Wazirabad and Gujrat district besides Gujranwala city.
The Faizabad area at the confluence of the federal capital Islamabad and Rawalpindi has been sealed off with containers and barricades have been set up on Murree Road, Rawalpindi's main highway, in anticipation of the arrival of the Long March.
The organisation's central council has already said it has "Plan B" if an attempt is made to stop the march.
It is to be noted that the leadership of Tehreek-e-Libek is in Egypt to implement the agreement reached with the government negotiating team on the issue of French ambassador and the organization's protest in April discussed the deportation of French ambassador by Pakistan's National Assembly. It was abolished after the decision to form a special committee.
Meanwhile, Federal Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid arrived in Lahore on Saturday for talks with Tehreek-e-Libek. After his arrival in Lahore, the Home Minister presided over an important meeting in which important decisions are expected to be taken in dealing with the protest.
Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Noorul Haq Qadri, Federal Minister Ali Amin Gandapur besides Provincial Law Minister Raja Basharat, IG Punjab were also present in the meeting.
News of the talks between the parties was circulating till late Saturday night, but no statement has been issued by the government in this regard.
A statement from Tehreek-e-Libek's central council after the clashes on Friday said that the talks would take place only if Saad Hussain Rizvi, the leader of the Lahore-based militant group, was not released and brought to the procession. He will represent the organization in the negotiations.
Participants in the long march of the Libek movement are demanding the implementation of the agreement to expel the French ambassador from the country and the release of the head of the organization Saad Hussain Rizvi.
However, a meeting of the Federal Review Board on Saturday on the issue of Saad Rizvi's detention was adjourned without any action.
Punjab Advocate General Ahmed Owais told the meeting of the Federal Review Board reviewing Saad Rizvi's detention could not be held due to the poor law and order situation. Rizvi's detention will be considered an extension.
He said that the meeting of the Federal Review Board would be held in two weeks. The board also includes Supreme Court Judge Maqbool Baqir and Lahore High Court Judge Ayesha Malik.
It should be noted that the three-member review board consists of judges of the Supreme Court, Lahore High Court and Peshawar High Court.