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Pakistan Peoples Party Senator Raza Rabbani has urged the country's government and the opposition to exercise restraint, warning against bringing the system under threat.
Speaking in the Senate on the current political situation in Pakistan, the Senator on Wednesday said that anarchy would only put the country's territorial integrity at stake. He said he was not talking about the third party as there were only two parties in the political system, but added that unfortunately both the parties appeared to be looking towards the third party. Rabbani also asserted that although he was a staunch opponent of fascist policies and politics of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), being a democrat he could not condone the treatment being meted out to political workers of PTI. "While the protest is a democratic and political right of any party, it must be within parameters of law, peaceful and must not infringe upon fundamental rights of citizens," the PPP leader said. Tension gripped Pakistan as police and PTI workers clashed after authorities tried to block them from moving toward D-Chowk in the federal capital after Imran Khan warned his supporters would not vacate the area until a date for fresh polls was announced by the Shehbaz Sharif government. Former Pakistan PM, who was ousted from power by a no-trust vote, had asked "all Pakistanis" to take to the streets in their respective cities and appealed to women and children to come out of their homes for "real independence". Failing to control the growing unrest due to the protest march launched by Imran Khan, the Shehbaz Sharif government has been forced to call in the army to protect the Red Zone as former Pakistan Prime Minister and PTI chief entered Islamabad in the early hours of Thursday. Rights groups expressed deep concern at the highhandedness of law enforcement agencies in disrupting the PTI's march to Islamabad. "We believe that all citizens and all political parties have every right to assemble and protest peacefully," the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) tweeted. "The state's overreaction has triggered, more than it has prevented, violence on the streets. The onus is on the government and opposition leaders to adopt a mature, democratic response and immediately begin a dialogue to end the impasse," the group added. (ANI)
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