• Law enforcers use tear gas, barricades to contain procession
• Dozens of personnel hurt; TLP alleges casualties from police firing
• Trenches dug up to block marchers on G.T. Road; Chenab, Jhelum bridges sealed
• Talal warns against violence or ‘mob blackmail’
• ATC grants 12-day remand for 110 TLP activists
LAHORE: The Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) began marching towards Islamabad after Friday prayers, with a large number of supporters reaching Shahdara and staging a sit-in after clashes with police, partially paralysing the provincial capital.
The law enforcers repeatedly tried to contain the procession near the group’s headquarters by erecting barricades and containers and using tear gas and other crowd-control measures.
In the Gujrat district, local authorities on Friday night dug up trenches at least three locations along the G.T. Road to block the march headed towards Islamabad.
However, the TLP, led by its chief Saad Rizvi, not only managed to take out the main procession in Lahore as part of its “Gaza March” but also kept on moving ahead amid religious slogans, rendering the police helpless.
Reports suggest that protests turned violent following Friday sermons delivered by prominent religious figures of the organisation at local mosques before the march began to move towards Islamabad from Lahore’s Multan Road.
Video circulating on social media appeared to show protesters commandeering heavy vehicles, including cranes reportedly belonging to government departments such as the Lahore Waste Management Company, Rescue 1122 and the Punjab police, to use them in the procession.
Scuffles reportedly broke out soon after TLP chief Saad Rizvi delivered a major sermon at the main Friday congregation at the central mosque near the organisation’s headquarters on Multan Road.
Later, he addressed a big rally and gave the party workers the go-ahead to move towards Islamabad as per the given plan.
Confrontations were reported at multiple locations along Multan Road, including Yateem Khana Chowk, Chauburji, near the Civil Secretariat, Bhati Gate, Azadi Chowk and Ravi Bridge (Shahdara).
Witnesses said some protesters occupied sections of the Orange Line track to throw stones at police, injuring several officers. Protesters were seen carrying sticks, rods and bricks.
Police responded by firing tear-gas shells and, according to witnesses, warning shots in the air to disperse the crowd.
On some occasions, the two sides were seen chasing and repelling each other. Sources said three police vehicles were seized and some personnel briefly taken hostage and assaulted, turning stretches of Multan Road into a battleground and disrupting life for nearby residents.
A second wave of major scuffles was reported near Azadi Chowk, where several police vehicles were damaged and many officials were injured.
Footage on social media showed officers retreating for cover; two superintendents of police were also seen taking positions at safer locations. One video showed an officer being knocked to the ground and bleeding.
Police sources said dozens of officers were injured, some seriously, after being pelted with stones and attacked by baton-wielding protesters. The TLP said many of its supporters were injured and alleged that some had died from police firing during the march. Neither claim could be independently verified and no official casualty figures were released.
Authorities also accused TLP-linked social media accounts of circulating old images and videos to inflame tensions. By evening, hundreds of TLP workers had gathered near Ravi Bridge awaiting further instructions from Mr Rizvi.
