Karachi commissioner extends Section 144 imposition until Saturday

KARACHI: Karachi Commissioner Hassan Naqvi on Friday announced to extend the enforcement of Section 144 by two more days, till October 19.

Exercising the authority granted by the Sindh Home Department, the commissioner imposed a complete ban on all forms of protests, sit-ins and gatherings of more than five people in the megalopolis.

According to a notification released by the Karachi Commissioner Office in this regard, the additional inspector general (AIG) of Karachi had requested banning the gatherings for the said period.

The commissioner office said the station house officers (SHOs) of the concerned police stations have been authorised for the said days to register complaints against the violation of Section 144.

Earlier, Section 144 was imposed for five days from October 13 to 17 in the megalopolis, to bolster the security ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Islamabad.

It is pertinent here to mention that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has announced staging a countrywide protest on Friday (today) against the proposed 26th constitutional package.

“PTI political committee has decided to resist the constitutional amendments,” read a declaration issued by the opposition party on Wednesday.

The PTI’s core body has directed all regional and local organisations to hold peaceful protests against the government’s attempts to introduce the constitutional amendment.

The statement said the PTI would make all-out efforts to block the passage of proposed constitutional amendments in both houses of parliament.

The constitutional package, among other things, aims to set up a federal constitutional court and fix the tenure of the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) for three years.