The order to keep shops open and streets unsealed came hours after exams were postponed for her Nov 10 Jhelum trip; it is not yet clear whether it covers every VIP or only the chief minister.
LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Sunday ordered district administrations and police across the province not to close any market, shop or business during VIP visits, hours after she removed a deputy commissioner who postponed school examinations ahead of her trip to his district.
In a message on X, Maryam said VIP visits must not disrupt commercial activity, residential streets must not be blocked or sealed, and citizens’ movement must not be restricted in the name of security. Security arrangements, she said, should be discreet and must cause the public no inconvenience or hardship.
Fresh instructions have gone to all regional police officers, district police officers, commissioners and deputy commissioners, and the chief minister warned that violations would invite strict action.
The trigger in Jhelum
The directive followed a row in Jhelum, which Maryam Nawaz is due to visit on Tuesday, November 10. Intermediate computer science papers in the district had been postponed because of arrangements for her visit, prompting criticism on social media.
Maryam Nawaz removed Deputy Commissioner Mir Raza Ozgen with immediate effect and ordered him to report to the Services and General Administration Department. “Despite my explicit instructions that no inconvenience or disruption whatsoever should be caused to the public during my visits to the districts, such an incident has nevertheless occurred,” she wrote, calling it “a clear disregard for my directions”.
She ordered that the examinations be held on their original date. “Notwithstanding any acts of foolishness or misplaced over-smartness on part of the district administration, the examinations shall be held strictly in accordance with the original schedule,” she said.
An old habit
Closing roads and shutting shutters along a VIP route has long been routine in Pakistan, and Punjab is no exception. When the CM Punjab visited Rawalpindi in November last year to launch the city’s electric bus service, shops and markets along her route in Jhanda Chichi, Marrir Hassan and Adamjee Road stayed shut from morning to evening, Dawn reported. A local traders’ leader said police and the district administration had asked shopkeepers to keep their shops closed for the day.
For small traders, a lost day of sales can be costly, especially when markets are already under pressure from high costs and earlier restrictions on trading hours. Maryam Nawaz Sharif has sided with traders before: in April she rejected a proposal to close Punjab’s markets at 8pm, and last month Lahore traders thanked her after curbs were eased at their chambers’ request.
Order and Enforcement Remain in Questions
Two questions will decide how much changes in practice. The first is scope. The chief minister’s X post referred to her own visits, while the official statement speaks of VIP visits in general. It is not clear whether the order also covers the governor, federal ministers, visiting foreign dignitaries, or security for touring sports teams. Sri Lanka’s cricketers play a Test in Lahore from November 17, and team convoys usually travel with significant security on the city’s main roads.
The second is enforcement. By the chief minister’s own account, she had already given explicit instructions before the Jhelum episode, and they were ignored. District officers often lean towards heavy security because they will be blamed if anything goes wrong, a balance the order leaves to their judgement by asking for arrangements that are “discreet and unobtrusive”.
Security is a real concern. Pakistan’s political leaders have faced serious threats, and police argue that sealing routes is sometimes the only practical way to protect a motorcade in crowded bazaars. The chief minister’s order does not remove security; it asks for it to be provided without shutting businesses and homes.
A message to the bureaucracy
The Jhelum removal also sends a message about accountability in the district administration, which the government has reorganised this year. Maryam Nawaz has publicly rewarded officers she considers effective, including merit badges for Lahore’s deputy commissioner and others, and is now publicly removing those she says ignored her instructions.
Her Jhelum visit on Tuesday will be the first test of the new order. Shopkeepers along her route, and intermediate students sitting their computer science papers that morning, will see whether it holds.
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