The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has voiced grave concern over the cavalier manner of the authorities in closing down Lahore on Wednesday, apparently to prevent a protest. In a statement issued on Thursday, the Commission said: "HRCP is shocked by the manner in which the government chose to practically shut down the city in an attempt to regulate a protest in the provincial capital on Wednesday."

"HRCP has never been happy with the government's method of crowd management and has repeatedly called for Pakistan to benefit from well known recommendations, by experts working with the United Nations among others, on dealing with protests without resorting to excessive or disproportionate use of force or denying people the freedom of movement." "While agitation or protests are regulated the world over, that is not done through shutting down the traffic for an entire city. As the people spent up to three hours stuck in traffic, they had neither been informed about the reasons for the closure of the city's main arteries by placing shipping containers, nor about any alternative routes.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2017