ISLAMABAD: As protests by a religious party entered the second day, leading to road blockages and traffic jams in many cities of the country, the government said that it would employ "all measures" to reopen closed roads.
As reported by Geo.tv, Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed presided over a meeting to review the ongoing law and order situation in the country and said that the government will take strict action against those who have created chaos and have taken the law into their hands.
The meeting was also virtually attended by the minister for religious affairs, chief commissioner, inspector-general of Islamabad, chief secretary, and the inspector-general of Punjab.
Sheikh Rasheed insisted that the government will take all steps to unblock the roads so as to facilitate citizens.
The meeting also decided that in areas where the situation worsens, mobile and internet services will be shut down for 24 hours.
Earlier in the day, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Interfaith Harmony Maulana Tahir Ashrafi had appealed to the protesters of the religious party to talk to the government instead of resorting to aggression because "Islam does not permit violence."
Speaking to Geo News via telephone, he regretted the incident in Dera Ghazi Khan where a police officer was subjected to torture by workers of the religious party staging protests.
"This police officer is also a member of the Holy Prophet Muhammad's (Peace be upon him) Ummah. It's not as if he isn't a human being," lamented Ashrafi.
Ashrafi appealed to protesters to think of the people who were in danger from the violence and the women and children who were stranded for the past 24 hours.
"As the chairman of the Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) I would like to appeal to the protesters to realise the danger that the people in need of oxygen are in," he said.
"Whoever it is, whether it is a police officer or a common man or the worker of a religious party, at the end of the day, the blood of a Pakistani is being shed," he added.
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