Imran Khan Leads Huge Rally of Party Workers
NEW DELHI, Mar 13: The former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan on Monday led a march of thousands of his supporters in Lahore as Islamabad police arrived to arrest him after two non-bailable arrest warrants were issued against him a day after he called off his party’s election rally following a ban on public gatherings in Punjab’s provincial capital.
The 70-year-old former cricketer-turned-politician’s supporters threw rose petals at a convoy carrying him to Data Darbar where he was expected to address his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters.
Khan left his Zaman Park residence as Islamabad police arrived in Lahore on a special helicopter to arrest the PTI chief after two non-bailable arrest warrants were issued against him for failing to appear in courts in the Toshakhana case and for threatening a woman magistrate while addressing a public gathering last year.
Earlier, the Lahore district administration met with the party’s leadership to discuss the rally, its route and security arrangements. The district administration, however, imposed a condition that no PTI leader would give a statement against the judiciary or any other institution, the paper said.
Khan on Sunday called off his party’s planned election rally in Lahore after Punjab’s caretaker government banned public gatherings in the provincial capital. In a televised address, Khan on Saturday had announced that he would lead an election campaign rally in Lahore on Sunday and urged his supporters and workers to participate in face of the police brutality purportedly committed against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.
Soon after his announcement, the local administration enforced Section 144 in the provincial capital and banned public gatherings, citing concerns in the wake of a Pakistan Super League (PSL) cricket match in the city. Khan’s party approached Election Commission offices and the courts against the government’s move, saying the imposition of Section 144 should be declared null and void. Later, in a surprise move, he postponed the rally, calling on his workers to “not fall into this trap”.
“It seems again Sec 144 has been imposed illegally solely on the PTI election campaign as all other public activities are ongoing in Lahore. Only Zaman Park has been surrounded by containers & heavy police contingent. Clearly, like 8 March, Punjab CM & police want to provoke clashes to file more sham FIRs against PTI ldrshp & workers & to use as a pretext for postponing elections (sic),” Khan tweeted.
However, Punjab’s caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi said no ban had been imposed on political activities in the city. “All political parties are freely allowed to campaign,” he tweeted. One activist of Khan’s party was killed on Wednesday during a crackdown on his supporters who gathered outside his residence in Lahore, defying a government ban on rallies in the city.
Khan was ousted from power in April after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership, which he alleged was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China, and Afghanistan.
(Manas Dasgupta)
