Orders issued for PAT chief’s arrest

Lahore to be turned into “a war zone” if arrest made: Abbasi

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has issued orders to the police to arrest Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri, sources in the Punjab administration told DawnNews on Friday.

The orders were issued as PAT workers armed with clubs clashed with policemen in LahoreModelTown, with reports of several people being injured.

Sources added that the government has also recommended to the federal government that Qadri’s name should be put in the Exit Control List (ECL).

PAT leader Rahiq Abbasi told that workers will not allow any attempt to put Dr Qadri under house arrest.

He added that the entire nation was watching through the media the atrocities being carried out by the Punjab police against the party workers.

Abbasi vowed to turn every street and neighbourhood in Lahore into “a war zone” if the PAT chief is arrested.

Speaking to reporters earlier Saturday, Qadri said the Punjab government was resorting to ‘state-terrorism’ in their crackdown against activists and supporters trying to reach his Model Town Residence.

The PAT chief claimed the government was carrying out mass-detentions of PAT workers and had blockaded all roads to his residence, turning the situation in ModelTown similar to that in Gaza.

He said such tactics by the government will not stop ‘the revolution’.