GUJRANWALA: More than 150 school children among other passengers on board a train from Abbottabad to Lahore remained stranded for hours at a railway station in Gujranwala on Sunday as the railway track was closed owing to countrywide protest against the crackdown on Faizabad protesters.
Students and teachers were from a private school in Lahore, who had gone for a trip to Abbottabad. They were on their way to Lahore when their train was stopped in Gujranwala around noon due to protest on the railway track in Shahdara.
The protest had led to suspension of train service between Rawalpindi and Lahore. The same train, in which the schoolchildren and teachers were stranded, had three grooms along with families, who were supposed to reach their respective destinations for their weddings.
The railway administration sent the train back to Rawalpindi instead of taking the risk of getting passengers struck at another station.
Some people disembarked the train to continue their journey through other means, while schoolchildren were given space to stay at a nearby private school. Parents of some of the schoolchildren managed to come to pick them.
The protests that erupted across the country after the crackdown on Faiazabad protesters, had crippled life. Exam schedules, besides business, are also affected due to the current law and order situation.
Published in Daily Times, November 27th 2017.
