The Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has announced that PTI will organize a rally in D-Chowk if permission for another location is not granted. Last month, PTI canceled its Islamabad rally because the district government revoked its permission.
ISLAMABAD: A senior party official announced on Monday that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), led by former prime minister Imran Khan, will stage a rally in the federal capital city of Islamabad during the final week of August or the first week of September.
Due to permission being canceled by the district administration, the PTI stated last month that it was postponing a public protest that was scheduled to take place in Islamabad. The purpose of the meeting, which took place outside the Pakistani capital, was to apply pressure for Khan's release from prison. Khan has been detained since last August. Ahead of a legislative election in February, all four of the convictions that were imposed against him were either suspended or reversed, but he is still being held on fresh charges. Allegations made by Khan against him are driven by political motives.
On Monday, PTI senior member Ali Amin Gandapur declared, "I am making an announcement here as Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa," while speaking at a rally in the town of Swabi in the northwest. "I am announcing that we will hold a rally in Islamabad during the first weekend of September or the last week of August."
He declared that the party would hold the rally at D-Chowk, a sizable town square in Islamabad that is situated at the intersection of Jinnah Avenue and Constitution Avenue. It is home to several significant government buildings, including the Supreme Court, the Prime Minister's Office, the Parliament, and the Presidency, if the party was not granted permission or a certificate of no objection to hold the rally in a designated location. "God willing, the rally will take place at D-Chawk if they don't give us a NOC," Gandapur declared. "We will hold a rally in Islamabad, the federal capital of both Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and myself."
With Khan's imprisonment on graft accusations in August of last year, the PTI, which seeks to organize the people for the release of its leader, has been finding it difficult to organize demonstrations around the nation. The party claims that because it stood with Khan, it is the target of a state-sponsored crackdown and widespread arrests of its members and sympathizers. The accusations are refuted by Pakistani authorities.
Following Khan's temporary incarceration in a fraud case on May 9, 2023, suspected PTI supporters stormed and damaged government and military installations, sparking the start of the PTI crackdown. The attacks happened slightly more than a year after Khan and Pakistan's strong military had a falling out. Khan accused the military of working with his political opponents to remove him from office through a legislative vote in April 2022. The claims are denied by the military.
Following the disturbances on May 9, hundreds of PTI leaders and employees were taken into custody; many are still detained pending trial. At least 103 persons have been charged with involvement in the violence, and their army court hearings have been started by the military. Since then, many of Khan's closest allies have turned against him, reportedly under pressure from the army, which disputes any involvement in politics.
Khan has offered the army "conditional" talks in exchange for "clean and transparent" elections and the dropping of "bogus" cases against his allies. Talks with Khan have been ruled off by the military, which has maintained that Khan and his party were responsible for the strikes on May 9.
0 Comments