Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Thursday strongly condemning the damage incurred to public property by miscreants said the protest, though a constitutional right of every citizen, needed to be made within the bounds of law.
He appealed to the citizens of the country to remain peaceful. “The way some miscreants have dam-aged public property, particularly government and military buildings, is condemnable,” he wrote on Twitter.
The president said the loss of human lives as an aftermath was “heart-wrenching, regrettable, unfor-tunate and highly condemnable”. Alvi said he was “alarmed, shocked and deeply” disturbed over the current situation in the country arising out of the arrest and manhandling of the former prime minister Imran Khan.
“We must have a re-think and look for political solutions, rather than coercion and arrests,” he said. The president mentioned that he had conveyed his concerns to the political and military leadership and was hopeful that the situation can improve.
The President’s advices come after PTI supporters continued with violent protests across countey fol-lowing Imran Khan arrest in a corruption case on Tuesday.
Besides, the Islamabad Police have arrested a total of 80 miscreants who were damaging government and public properties in reaction to the arrest of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chief Imran Khan. According to the Spokesman of Islamabad Police, the violent protesters were involved in setting fire to the Tarnol Railway Station, Aerial firing and pulling the track of Pakistan Railways from different points of the Federal Capital. He said earlier, Islamabad Police had arrested around 108 protesters involved in arson. Meanwhile, in a tweet, the Islamabad Police said all the roads were open for travellers and the flow of traffic was nor-mal.
The Islamabad Police has also urged all citizens to respect the law as Section 245 was in force in the federal capital for the safety of life and property of the masses as well as the security of the govern-ment institutions.
He said Pakistan Army, Rangers, Frontier Constabulary and Islamabad Police were authorized to take action against the culprits involved in any kind of illegal activities.
Prove to be a good citizen of the country and respect the law. The law is equal for all and it is the re-sponsibility of everyone to obey it, Islamabad Police said.
Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal on Thursday stressed the need for a close liaison between the police department and citizen committees to ensure main-taining law and order in the society.
Chairing a meeting of the ‘Governance Innovation Lab’ on police reforms here, he said the Federal Government would make the Islamabad Police a role model for other provinces by equipping the de-partment with modern gadgets and technologies.
He opined that a leadership-training programme should be initiated for police officers so that the pub-lic could be served in a better way.
Ahsan Iqbal also directed to provide a public-friendly environment at police stations to serve the peo-ple in a way that they could feel free in sharing their problems with the policemen.
The minister said social issues of the public should be settled at police stations with the active partici-pation of local reconciliatory committees.
Among others, the meeting was attended by legal experts, representatives of civil society, law en-forcement officers and other stakeholders.
