President says protest must be within bounds

ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Thursday strongly condemned the damage incurred to public property by miscreants and said that the protest, though a constitutional right of every citizen, needed to be made within the bounds of law.

He appealed to the citizens of the country to remain peaceful, the official news agency said.

“The way some miscreants have damaged public property, particularly government and military buildings, is condemnable,” he wrote on Twitter.

The president said the loss of human lives as an aftermath was “heart-wrenching, regrettable, unfortunate and highly condemnable”.

Alvi said he was “alarmed, shocked and deeply” disturbed over the current situation in the country arising out of the arrest and manhandling of the former prime minister Imran Khan.

“We must have a re-think and look for political solutions, rather than coercion and arrests,” he said.

The president mentioned that he had conveyed his concerns to the political and military leadership and was hopeful that the situation can improve.