Pakistani policemen cordon the area with a container truck ahead of an upcoming anti-government rally of Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) in Lahore on August 7, 2014.
A populist cleric threatened on Thursday to march on the Pakistani capital and overthrow the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, days after an opposition leader promised a massive anti-government rally to push for fresh elections.
Tahir-ul-Qadri had alleged that more than 500 followers of his Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) movement were arrested by police in a campaign of intimidation, leading him to call for revolt if it did not end.
In an earlier statement released by PAT, Qadri was quoted as saying the group would have "no choice other than giving a final call of revolution to the entire nation to come out on streets and march towards Islamabad and provincial capitals to topple (the) government," should the arrests continue.
And at a press conference in Lahore on Thursday, he said the government "will crumble before the end of August."
Rana Mashhood, law minister for the populous Punjab province, confirmed a number of arrests of the cleric's supporters on Thursday, after previous denials by the authorities.
"Thirty-two Qadri supporters have been arrested from different cities of the province since Wednesday for breaking the law," Mashhood said.
"The government will deal sternly with all those taking law into their hands," he added.
The announcement will add to pressure on the government after cricket hero turned opposition leader Imran Khan announced he would hold a massive rally in Islamabad on August 14, the date of the country's creation in 1947, to force the government into holding fresh elections.
Qadri, who is normally Canada-based, returned to Pakistan in June to lead what he terms a "peaceful revolution".
Clashes between Qadri supporters and police in June left 14 activists dead in a rare example of political violence in the relatively peaceful province.
The cleric had previously announced a mass prayer session for the victims of June's violence to be held on August 10 in the eastern city of Lahore but it is unclear whether he plans to march on the capital the same day.
A religious moderate, Qadri commands tens of thousands of followers and held a disruptive four-day sit-in protest against the government in 2013, months ahead of the election that saw Sharif come to power for the third time.
- Risk of military provocation -
Mashhood told AFP that police had also launched an investigation into Qadri over charges relating to civil disobedience.
"A case has been registered against Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri following a complaint by a citizen," Mashhood said.
Analysts have said the protests risk undermining Pakistan's fragile democracy and emboldening the all-powerful army, which has ruled the country for half its modern history.
Opposition leader Khan, who leads the third largest party in Pakistan's parliament, has long complained of massive rigging in the 2013 general election which saw the country's first transition of power from one civilian-led government to another, though foreign observers said the poll was "credible".
Critics say the scale of the conspiracy Khan alleges is not credible and that his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party should not have accepted their seats in parliament if they did not believe the vote was fair.
Khan's party also formed a government in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province which is racked by an Islamist insurgency and it was unclear if he was willing to relinquish power there for a new vote.
Protest marches have played a key role in Pakistan's political history, most recently in 2009 when Sharif and lawyers held a so-called 'long march' to restore controversially sacked judges.
Slain former premier Benazir Bhutto led a similar march with hundreds of thousands of supporters in 1993 which contributed to the removal of Sharif's first government.