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Burning tyres and a blocked road test the limit of the freedom.
sale for most days of the week and non-availability of public transport paralyzed
routine life in many cities of Punjab. Public transporters, commuters and
employees of CNG stations participated in these protests, some of which led
to clashes between police and protesters in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, leaving
many people injured. The protests disrupted traffic between Rawalpindi and
Islamabad and ended only after the Petroleum Ministry assured CNG station
owners and the transporters association of a reduction in CNG prices.
Curbs on the right
In early 2012, the government of the Punjab province announced a policy
for restricting and regulating rallies, processions and demonstrations on busy
thoroughfares such as the Mall road, one of the busiest roads in Lahore city,
to avoid the impact on business activities there. Protests in designated places
such as Nasir Bagh in Lahore and Attique Stadium in Rawalpindi were allowed.
The Punjab Assembly was to designate assembly staff as representatives who
would go to Nasir Bagh in coordination with the district administration to
receive petitions from protestors. Under the policy, police was to refrain from
using force and legal action was to be initiated against any violators under the
law.
Some instances of the exercise of the right to assemble and efforts by the
authorities to curtail the same are listed here:
♦ Lady Health Workers (LHWs) continued to hold demonstrations during
the year as before, gathering along roadsides and marching toward important
government buildings to bring attention to their demands for regularization of
their service and an improved pay structure. In March, the LHWs were met
with a brutal baton-charge from the police when they tried to proceed to the
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State of Human Rights in 2012