• Law enforcers use tear gas, barricades to contain procession
• Dozens of personnel hurt; TLP alleges casualties from police firing
• Trenches dug up to block marchers on G.T. Road; Chenab, Jhelum bridges sealed
• Talal warns against violence or ‘mob blackmail’
• ATC grants 12-day remand for 110 TLP activists
LAHORE: The Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) began marching towards Islamabad after Friday prayers, with a large number of supporters reaching Shahdara and staging a sit-in after clashes with police, partially paralysing the provincial capital.
The law enforcers repeatedly tried to contain the procession near the group’s headquarters by erecting barricades and containers and using tear gas and other crowd-control measures.
In the Gujrat district, local authorities on Friday night dug up trenches at least three locations along the G.T. Road to block the march headed towards Islamabad.
However, the TLP, led by its chief Saad Rizvi, not only managed to take out the main procession in Lahore as part of its “Gaza March” but also kept on moving ahead amid religious slogans, rendering the police helpless.
Reports suggest that protests turned violent following Friday sermons delivered by prominent religious figures of the organisation at local mosques before the march began to move towards Islamabad from Lahore’s Multan Road.
Video circulating on social media appeared to show protesters commandeering heavy vehicles, including cranes reportedly belonging to government departments such as the Lahore Waste Management Company, Rescue 1122 and the Punjab police, to use them in the procession.
Scuffles reportedly broke out soon after TLP chief Saad Rizvi delivered a major sermon at the main Friday congregation at the central mosque near the organisation’s headquarters on Multan Road.
Later, he addressed a big rally and gave the party workers the go-ahead to move towards Islamabad as per the given plan.
Confrontations were reported at multiple locations along Multan Road, including Yateem Khana Chowk, Chauburji, near the Civil Secretariat, Bhati Gate, Azadi Chowk and Ravi Bridge (Shahdara).
Witnesses said some protesters occupied sections of the Orange Line track to throw stones at police, injuring several officers. Protesters were seen carrying sticks, rods and bricks.
Police responded by firing tear-gas shells and, according to witnesses, warning shots in the air to disperse the crowd.
On some occasions, the two sides were seen chasing and repelling each other. Sources said three police vehicles were seized and some personnel briefly taken hostage and assaulted, turning stretches of Multan Road into a battleground and disrupting life for nearby residents.
A second wave of major scuffles was reported near Azadi Chowk, where several police vehicles were damaged and many officials were injured.
Footage on social media showed officers retreating for cover; two superintendents of police were also seen taking positions at safer locations. One video showed an officer being knocked to the ground and bleeding.
Police sources said dozens of officers were injured, some seriously, after being pelted with stones and attacked by baton-wielding protesters. The TLP said many of its supporters were injured and alleged that some had died from police firing during the march. Neither claim could be independently verified and no official casualty figures were released.
Authorities also accused TLP-linked social media accounts of circulating old images and videos to inflame tensions. By evening, hundreds of TLP workers had gathered near Ravi Bridge awaiting further instructions from Mr Rizvi.
Talal’s presser
State Minister for Interior Talal Chaudhry accused the TLP of holding protests to misuse the issue of corruption for political gain, reiterating that the government would not allow any group to use violence or blackmail the state. Speaking to the media in Islamabad, he said policy is clear: peaceful protest within the democratic and constitutional framework is a constitutional right. “There is no space for groups to blackmail others, to use mobs, or to use violence to achieve their demands or objectives,” he said.
Mr Chaudhry said hundreds of suspects planning violence had been identified, and that provincial governments had already made arrests. “For the government, stopping around 2,000 people is not a problem, but a policy decision was made to use minimum force,” he noted.
Meanwhile, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Friday handed 110 TLP activists to police on a 12-day physical remand in a case relating to violent protests and attacks on law enforcers. Police produced the suspects before the court and sought their custody for interrogation. ATC-I Judge Manzer Ali Gill approved the remand and directed police to conduct the investigation strictly in accordance with the law.
Nawankot police have registered an FIR alleging the suspects attacked law enforcement personnel, opened fire, resorted to violence and damaged public property during a protest.
Those remanded include Qari Umar Farooq, Basharat Ali, Qari Shabbir Farooqi, Hafiz Ghulam Sarwar, Qari M. Hussain, Qari Muharram Aslam, Qari Khurshid, Hammad Ali, Imran Hussain, Ghulam Nabi, Nazir Hussain aka Nazir Chishti and Muhammad Usama. The judge ordered police to produce the suspects again upon completion of the remand for further proceedings.
Meanwhile, local authorities in the Gujrat district on Friday night dug trenches at least three locations along the GT Road.
Earlier in the day, both bridges over the Chenab and Jhelum rivers were sealed by parking heavy vehicles across the carriageways. Entry to and exit from Gujrat via several other points were also curtailed for vehicular traffic.
However, pedestrians were still allowed to cross the bridges, though officials warned this may become difficult today if further vehicles are added to the barriers.
Trenches have been dug near the Jhelum bridge at Sarai Alamgir and on the Wazirabad side of the Chenab.
For the first time, a trench has also been dug on GT Road within Kharian city to render vehicular movement virtually impossible. Previously, such trenches were typically limited to approaches near river bridges, including during the 2021 TLP march.[1]
A senior law-enforcement official said preparations were in place to create additional trenches at various points along GT Road within the Gujrat district if the march cannot be contained in Gujranwala.
Heavy containers have also been parked at multiple locations in Gujrat city and in the towns of Lalamusa, Kharian and Sarai Alamgir.
The closures have paralysed daily life, with numerous social and business events postponed. The local business fraternity voiced concern over the prolonged blockade and urged the government to adopt a viable policy to tackle such situations without crippling commercial activity.
Wajih Ahmad Sheikh in Lahore and Waseem Ashraf Butt in Gujrat also contributed to this report
Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2025
References
- ^ TLP march. (www.dawn.com)