https://arab.news/5u2h8
- PTI first announced it would hold rally on Sept. 28, then said it would organize “peaceful protests” instead
- PTI is aiming to hold large rallies across Pakistan to build pressure for ex-PM Imran Khan’s release from prison
ISLAMABAD: The Punjab government on Friday imposed Section 144 in Rawalpindi district for two days, banning public gatherings as the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) opposition party called on supporters to gather for a protest at a public park today, Saturday.
The PTI announced earlier this week it would hold a rally in Rawalpindi on Sept. 28 but then said on Thursday it was canceling the gathering on the instructions of party founder and ex-premier Imran Khan and would hold “peaceful protests” instead on the same day.
Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Omar Ayub Khan, a key Khan ally, in a message on X on Friday, called on party supporters to gather at Rawalpindi’s Liaqat Bagh park the following afternoon.
A notification issued by the Punjab Home Department dated Sept. 27 did not name any outfit but said a political party had planned a demonstration for Saturday, warning that “miscreants” and “mischief mongers can take advantage of the … protest to carry out subversive/anti-state activities … to fulfil their nefarious designs.”
It added that Section 144(6) had been imposed in Rawalpindi, Jhelum, Chakwal and Attock “to maintain law and order situation” and “ensure [the] security of the people and installations/buildings against any potential threat or untoward activity.”
Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is a legal provision that empowers district administrations to prohibit an assembly of four or more people in an area for a limited period.
The notification said the district administration was prohibiting “all kinds of political assemblies, gatherings, sits-in, rallies, demonstrations, jalsas, protests and such like other activities” on the weekend and had also banned people from carrying weapons in Rawalpindi, Jhelum, Chakal and Attock districts.
Taking to X, Omar Ayub Khan called on people to gather at Liaqat Bagh, a famous park on Murree Road in Rawalpindi.
“Tomorrow, Sept. 28, 2024, Saturday, god willing, at 2pm you have to come in large numbers to Liaqat Bagh where we will have a protest. It is our legal and constitutional right, for Prime Minister Imran Khan, for Pakistan, and for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.”
Following rallies this month in Islamabad and Lahore, the PTI announced this week it would hold public gatherings in Rawalpindi and Lahore on Sept. 28 and Oct. 5 respectively to build pressure for Khan’s release.
The ex-PM has been in jail since August last year on multiple charges including corruption, sedition and terrorism. Khan says the cases against him are politically motivated to keep him and his party away from politics.
The PTI’s last two rallies were not without complications. The Sept. 8 rally in Islamabad was first planned for July and then August but was postponed both times as the party was denied permission to hold it by the district administration which cited security threats and a lack of resources to manage large gatherings.
After the Islamabad rally, a number of PTI legislators were arrested on charges of violating an agreement on the basis of which permission for the rally was given, including abiding by a time limit and supporters sticking to certain routes to reach the designated venue for the rally on Islamabad’s outskirts.
Last Saturday’s gathering in Lahore also came to an abrupt end after authorities cut off electricity supply to the venue after the 3-6pm deadline expired.
Khan’s party says the challenges in holding rallies are part of an over year-long crackdown it has faced since protesters allegedly linked to the party attacked and damaged government and military installations on May 9, 2023, after the former premier’s brief arrest the same day in a land graft case.
Hundreds of PTI followers and leaders were arrested following the riots and many remain behind bars as they await trial. The military, which says Khan and his party were behind the attacks, has also initiated army court trials of at least 103 people accused of involvement in the violence.
Khan, who has been in jail since last August, was ousted from the PM’s office in 2022 in a parliamentary vote of no confidence after what is widely believed to be a falling out with Pakistan’s powerful military, which denies being involved in politics.