• Officials link the move to the PTI, and today’s student protests are planned. • WhatsApp disruptions were reported, and Section 144 was in effect for two days. • About 380 people were held after the agitation in Rawalpindi. LAHORE/RAWALPINDI: The Punjab government has closed all educational institutions and banned all public gatherings throughout the province in response to the double challenge of a possible agitation by the PTI and the students’ protest today.
While the protest against the alleged rape of a female college student in Lahore by students continued for the fourth day on Thursday, the PTI has called for nationwide demonstrations on Friday (today) against the proposed constitutional amendments and the incarceration of party founder Imran Khan.
The Punjab Home Department announced in a notification that as a result of the imposition of Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure throughout Punjab, all forms of protests, processions, and other public activities would be prohibited for a period of two days.
Friday and Saturday will remain subject to the restrictions.
“[I]n perspective on winning regulation and request circumstance and danger insights, any sort of dissent/parade is probably going to give vulnerable objective to fear mongers and reprobates, which present serious security dangers, but at the same time is probably going to make risk public harmony and request as well as bother to public at large,” the warning added.
When the PTI announced its plans for protests or rallies over the past few months, the federal government and the Punjab government imposed Section 144.
All public and private schools, colleges, and universities will remain closed on Friday (today), according to separate notifications from the Higher Education Department and the School Education Department.
Although the shutdown was not explicitly mentioned in the notifications, a senior government official stated that student protests were growing.
Since Monday, when social media reports claimed that a female student had been raped at a college in Lahore, violent protests have been taking place in a number of Punjab cities.
However, the alleged victim and her family have also dismissed the claims as fabricated, and an investigation team established to investigate the allegations found no evidence of rape.
The provincial government launched a crackdown in response to the growing unrest. Hundreds of students were arrested in various cities for vandalism, injuring security personnel, and blocking roads.
The official claims that the government was forced to close educational institutions because law enforcement agencies were unable to control the protest.
An official stated that as students’ protests against the alleged rape incident spread to Rawalpindi on Thursday, the Punjab Police made more than 380 arrests. Protests continue in Punjab.
At first, around 150 dissidents, who supposedly pelted stones and harmed public property, were held, with 200 more captured later with the assistance of CCTV film, a police representative said.
The official asserted that many of the violent protesters “were not students,” casting doubt on the protest’s motivations.
On Thursday, students gathered outside the campuses of a private college in Commercial Market Satellite Town, 6th Road Morgah, and Peshawar Road, waving signs and shouting slogans.
