Overnight, many Pakistani cities were cut off from the outside world as members of the Islamist TLP group demanded the release of their leader. Authorities say that roadblocks have caused oxygen supplies to Lahore hospitals to be delayed.
Thousands of members of a Pakistani Islamist group who blocked main roads in protest of their leader’s detention have interrupted vital oxygen supplies for Covid-19 patients, according to health officials. After the arrest of Saad Rizvi, the chief of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, on Monday, major intersections in Lahore, Pakistan’s second-largest district, remained blocked (TLP).
Since President Emmanuel Macron’s government voiced support for a magazine’s right to republish cartoons portraying Prophet Mohammed, which many Muslims consider blasphemy, the party has led calls for the ambassador’s expulsion.
The loss of oxygen supply during protests Monday night, according to Yasmin Rashid, a top health official in Punjab, was a “crisis.” “Please do not obstruct ambulances or hospital guests from using the routes. Some ambulances are equipped with oxygen masks, which are vital for Covid patients “Rashid remarked.
Asad Aslam, the Punjab pandemic pointman, said many hospitals had oxygen shortages Monday night, but the situation had stabilised after authorities cleared the roads.
Pakistan is seeing a lethal third outbreak of the coronavirus, and vaccinations are in low supply.
The TLP is known for bringing vast swaths of Pakistan to a halt with days-long road demonstrations over the years. Two of their followers were killed during clashes with security forces on Monday night, when police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters, according to a party spokesman.
Officials are yet to comment on the deaths that have been registered.
TLP chief Rizvi was apprehended only hours after calling for a march on the capital on April 20 to demand the removal of the French ambassador, something the party claims the government committed to last year.
