ISLAMABAD: The local administration in Islamabad on Friday warned of action against people violating a ban on public gatherings in the Pakistani capital after former prime minister Imran Khan announced a rally in the city to protest alleged torture of his aide in police custody.
Khan called his supporters to rally in Islamabad on Saturday to denounce the arrest and torture of his chief of staff, Dr. Shahbaz Gill, who has been under custody since August 9 for his televised comments deemed as “seditious” by the authorities.
While the Islamabad police denied the allegations of torture, Khan announced rallying supporters against it in the federal capital on Saturday evening.
Hours later, the Islamabad administration reminded the masses of the ban on a gathering of more than five people anywhere in the city and warned of action against the violators.
“Gathering of more than five people at any place in Islamabad is prohibited,” Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Irfan Nawaz Memon said on Twitter Friday. “This ban has been in place by the Islamabad administration since July 23.”
“The public is advised against the gathering of more than five people at any place,” he said in another tweet. “Action will be taken according to law against anyone involved in any kind of violation.”
Khan would be rallying his supporters from China Chowk to F-9 Park in the city after the Maghrib prayers, the former premier said on Twitter late Friday.
On Friday, a district court in Islamabad suspended the physical remand of Gill, who has been admitted to Islamabad’s Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) for a check-up since Wednesday and ordered police to keep him in hospital until Monday.
Khan and other senior members of his party tried meeting Gill at the hospital on Friday evening, but they were barred by the police. It followed an announcement by Khan of the rally to protest the alleged torture of his chief of staff.
“I want to convey a message to my entire nation that tomorrow, I am holding a rally in Islamabad for Shahbaz Gill,” the former premier told reporters outside the PIMS hospital.
“I invite all the people of Islamabad to my rally because if a political worker can be subjected to such torture, then anyone can be subjected to it.”
The case against Gill relates to comments he made on ARY News channel last week, asking army officers not to follow orders of their top command if they were “against the sentiments of the masses.”
The country’s national media regulator described the statement as “seditious” and said it was tantamount to inciting revolt within the military.
