Thaindian News

Islamabad, Aug 16 (IANS) Posters and flyers displaying information about upcoming events continue to be put up in the Pakistani capital. This has led to growing resentment among its citizens who say such posters were a nuisance.

Residents lament that people who paste posters did not spare any public space, be they government buildings, walls of houses even when expensively painted and decorated by their owners, mosques, public shelters, lamp-posts, buses, sign-boards, traffic posts, public toilets, trees and even electricity transformers on roadsides.

People paste all sorts of things like artwork, slogans and advertisements without prior permission, the news agency reported.

“Workers of political parties and followers of religious leaders paste their campaign pictures over prohibited places and on others’ property without permission,” complained a resident named Zeeshan.

“I just painted my house,” grumbled Shabbir Ahmad Khan. “Workers of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf have ruined it by pasting photos of Imran Khan all over my walls. The authorities should do something about this.”

He said authorities should designate specific locations for political and religious leaders to place their posters. That would satisfy many campaigners and their followers. Municipalities should also reserve the right to remove such posters if they provoke the residents.

Tariq, a Tehreek-e-Insaf activist, said: “We are not aware of any specific location approved by the government in Islamabad.”

In most areas, there are local by-laws against posters, but these vary from area to area. Police can catch an offender, but he can be let off by just paying a fine.