Hundreds of political workers were arrested on Friday across the country for protesting against the emergency rule and suspension of the Constitution.In Gujranwala, police arrested over 200 Pakistan PeopleÂ’s Party (PPP) workers and roughed up several for taking out a rally in connection with the long-march. Hundreds of PPP workers led by party divisional president and MNA Imtiaz Warraich took out the rally, but police baton-charged and tear-gassed them and arrested over 200 participants, according to a PPP press release. Warraich, PPP Lahore divisional president and MNA Chaudhry Manzoor, MPA Ijaz Samaa, MPA Khalid Bajwa, Malik Tahir Akhtar, MPA Lala Shakeelur Rehman, Sheikh Iqbal, PPP Sialkot President Zahid Bashir, Babar Ghumman, Malik Shumail, Tariq Gujjar, Amer Tufail, Fazl Abbas, Chaudhry Tariq and Abdullah Virk were among those arrested, the release added.
More than 100 Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) supporters were arrested outside various mosques in Karachi on Friday, but police denied these arrests. The JIÂ’s Sarfaraz Ahmed told Daily Times that more than 100 MMA and JI activists had been taken into custody. Police chief Azhar Ali Farooqui denied the arrests.
In Peshawar, police arrested four Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leaders and three Awami National Party (ANP) activists from separate rallies on Friday. JUI-F NWFP General Secretary Maulana Shaujaul Mulk, former ministers Asif Iqbal Dudzai and Amanullah Haqqani and JUI-F NWFP Information Secretary Abdul Jalil Jan were arrested from a rally staged by Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) activists. Jamaat-e-Islami leaders, including MMA provincial naib ameer Mushtaq Ahmed Khan, evaded arrest. At a rally in the Hashtnagri area, police arrested three ANP activists Yasir Zaman, Mohammad Zaman and Alamgir Khalil.
JUI-FÂ’s maiden rally: The JUI-F workers and leaders took to the streets in Peshawar for the first time to protest against the emergency rule. After Friday prayers, the JUI-F protesters started a march from Markazi Darul Qura at Namakmandi but police stopped them near the Cinema Road. The PPP womenÂ’s wing workers in Peshawar also protested against the state of emergency and suspension of the Constitution.