Amid the growing inflation crisis and other major challenges faced by the Pakistan Tehreek Insaf (PTI) government, a fresh wave of protests has pushed the whole country into chaos.
The opposition parties including the PDM and those who are not part of the democratic movement have started their protests against the price hikes and other economic policies of the PTI government.
Meanwhile, TLP is also on the roads now. Let’s look at the highlights of the protests being carried out on Friday. After the call to protest was given by the Opposition, protesters took to the streets in Karachi, Larkana, Lahore, Sukkur, Mardan, Jacobabad, Mohmand, Ziarat, Mingora, and other cities of the country. In Karachi, the demonstration started near the Empress Market area, due to which the surrounding roads had to be sealed.
In Lahore, PML-N members staged a protest against inflation at the Jain Mandir Chowk while carrying utility bills and pieces of rotis (bread) in their hands.
In Mardan, protesters started gathering at the city’s Kachehri Chowk, while in Gilgit, members of PML-N, as well as JUI, participated in the protest rally at Ittihad Chowk.
Moreover, authorities had suspended the Metro Bus service in Rawalpindi and blocked roads in Islamabad and Lahore to counter the protests organised separately by a banned outfit and Opposition parties in the above-mentioned cities.
Now in this whole scenario, the segment which is getting trampled is the common men who step out to earn for their daily life needs and gets stuck on roads due to the protests. On the other hand, we have witnessed some violent protests in Lahore where the demonstrators and police personnel came face to face.
Eventually, the loss is heading towards the state. It is our country and we as responsible citizens have to understand that we are in a critical phase of history. Our enemies are in search of every possible opportunity to defame and damage us. Under these circumstances, if we will stick to our internal rifts then it would be an easy opportunity for our enemies to conspire against us.
So it is the responsibility of both the government and the protesting parties to calm down and use their right to protest in a civilized manner. Similarly, the government should go for negotiations at the earliest instead of using force against the demonstrators.
Our Prime Minister himself is an advocate of solving issues on the table and he has been so vocal about it be it in the case of Afghanistan or talks with other banned outfits in Pakistan.
The opposition and everyone who is taking part in the protests must realize that sovereignty of Pakistan is the primary thing and one should practice his/her constitutional rights but the stability and peace of Pakistan must be respected and protected.
