By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The provincial Punjab government has banned public gatherings and deployed paramilitary rangers in the garrison city of Rawalpindi ahead of a planned protest by former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party on Saturday.
The PTI, led by jailed Khan, has announced Liaquat Bagh as the protest venue, despite authorities imposing Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to prevent gatherings.
“Tomorrow, Sept. 28, 2024, Saturday, God willing, at 2 p.m., you have to come in large numbers to Liaqat Bagh, where we will hold a protest,” Omar Ayub Khan, Leader of the Opposition, said in a message on X.
“It is our legal and constitutional right, for Prime Minister Imran Khan, for Pakistan, and for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.”
The party’s Punjab chief Hammad Azhar vowed to hold a “massive but peaceful political public gathering” at 2 pm, urging supporters to arrive early.
However, Rawalpindi Police, Rangers, and Punjab Constabulary plan to restrict access, blocking roads with containers and barbed wires. “Extraordinary security measures have been taken to ensure peace in the city and nobody will be allowed to stage any protest,” a senior police official said.
The ban, effective in Rawalpindi, Jhelum, Chakwal, and Attock districts, aims to prevent “subversive/anti-state activities” and maintain law and order, according to a Punjab Home Department notification.
Local administrations in Attock and Rawalpindi will be assisted by six companies of Pakistan Rangers (Punjab), stationed at the request of the respective deputy commissioners. The Ministry of Interior, which commands the Rangers, deployed the troops at the request of the Punjab Home Department.
The troops will remain in the two districts until Sunday.
The protest is part of PTI’s efforts to pressure the government to release Khan, jailed since August last year on corruption, sedition, and terrorism charges.
Khan claims the cases are politically motivated.
The Punjab Home Department notification dated Sept. 27 warned that “miscreants” and “mischief mongers” could exploit the protest to carry out subversive activities.
“… miscreants… mischief mongers can take advantage of the … protest to carry out subversive/anti-state activities … to fulfil their nefarious designs” on Saturday, it added.
The notification imposed Section 144(6) 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.”
Initially, PTI sought permission for rallies in Rawalpindi and Lahore on Sept. 28 and Oct. 5. However, on Khan’s instructions, the party dropped the plan and opted for a peaceful protest instead.
The party has struggled to hold rallies nationwide, facing repeated permission denials amid strained ties with the country’s powerful military.
Last week, authorities forcibly dispersed thousands of PTI supporters in the eastern city of Lahore, cutting off electricity to the rally and taking control of the stage after the event ran past its permitted deadline.
The authorities then issued a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for the rally but with 43 stringent conditions to ensure public safety and prevent unrest.
The PTI has faced a crackdown since protesters allegedly linked to the party attacked government and military installations on May 9, 2023, after Khan’s brief arrest in a land graft case. Hundreds of PTI followers and leaders were arrested, and many remain behind bars awaiting trial. The military has initiated army court trials of at least 103 people accused of involvement in the violence.
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