Lahore:
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan led Pakistan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf rally at the Minar-e-Pakistan heritage site in Lahore, despite the “threat alert” from the Punjab caretaker government that terrorists could target political events in the provincial capital.
PTI chairman Imran Khan has arrived at the venue and will address the crowd, but from a bulletproof container, which has been placed on the jalsa ground to ensure his safety, Geo news reported.
The provincial government warned the 70-year-old cricketer-turned-politician, who was ousted as prime minister last April and is embroiled in 143 cases, could be targeted by terrorists.
The government announced in its warning that the terrorists had reached Lahore with explosive material and would either target political rallies or law enforcement officers deployed for the security of those events.
As the party prepared to hold the rally, the government placed containers on the road to Minar-e-Pakistan, creating barriers for people to join the rally.
However, Punjab Information Minister Amir Mir said that people were not restricted from going to the rally because of the barriers, but law enforcement agencies ensured the protection of the citizens through these measures.
The minister also said that workers from any political party were not prevented from taking part in the rally and that the government had given permission for PTI to hold the event.
The routes leading to Minar-e-Pakistan from Ravi Bridge and Railway Station have been closed, while containers have also been placed in the city’s Shah Alam Market.
Police have separately arrested more than 50 PTI workers from different parts of Rahim Yar Khan, while 26 workers, including the son of PTI leader Javed Akhtar Ansari, were arrested in Multan, Geo News reported.
The PTI claimed that many workers from Lodhran and Bhakkar have also been detained.
PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi called on workers to walk to the rally when roads were blocked and said the government had packed the city with barricades to prevent the party’s planned public rally, which signaled panic in the government camp. to undermine.
“How can they call themselves democratic? Have the PML-N workers been arrested?” Mr Qureshi said he spoke to the media hours before the meeting.
“Despite all the obstacles, people will come,” Mr Qureshi said, strictly advising workers not to take the law into their own hands.
“Police and administration are requested to remove the containers,” Mr. Qureshi impassionedly appealed to authorities, adding that the obstacles were proof that PTI’s show of strength proved to be a success even before its inception.
He claimed that police had arrested about 1,500 to 1,800 PTI workers since the rally was announced.
He also advised the political workers’ code of conduct by telling them not to carry sticks or stones to the meeting, but to come armed with passion.
“There is no greater weapon than passion,” said Mr. Qureshi.
The PTI leader said they are taking legal action against the postponement of the elections from April to October this year.
“Given the sensitivity of the situation, the Chief Justice of Pakistan is requested to hear the plea on the list of causes.” The PTI chairman took to Twitter calling on his supporters in Lahore to attend the rally after the Taraweeh prayers, which he said will “break all records”.
The deposed prime minister said he will give his views on “Haqeeqi Azadi” and how to pull the country out of the mess the “clique of thugs have brought our country into”.
The alert – issued by the intelligence agency of the CCPO Lahore – said “credible information” had been received that foreign intelligence agencies had contacted Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) commander Mukarram Khurasani to “improve instability in the country by any means”. cause”.
The threat alert further predicted that the JuA commander could have “specifically designated” Imran Khan as the main target, and other targets included people gathering at the PTI chairman’s residence in Zaman Park, PTI’s meeting in Minar-e -Pakistan on Saturday, as well as rallies conducted by the PTI “because they appear to be a softer target,” the Dawn newspaper reported.
Imran Khan had announced a rally on March 13 at the Minar-e-Pakistan – the same location where he launched his campaign for the 2013 elections with a massive show of force.
Originally scheduled for March 19, the Lahore High Court ordered the PTI to reschedule the meeting and enter into dialogue with the administration.
Subsequently, on March 22, the LHC had rejected a petition from the PTI seeking permission to hold a public meeting at the site after the party and the city government reached an agreement.
The PTI chief launched his election campaign from Lahore at the end of the second week of March after falling out with the caretaker government of Punjab over a local government ban on public gatherings.
Earlier in the day, Lahore Khan air traffic control issued provisional bail until April 4 in three cases filed at the Lahore Race Course police station – two of which occurred on March 14 and 15 – regarding the clashes that occurred between PTI supporters and the police outside the Zaman Park residence of the PTI chief.
Imran Khan has been in the dock for buying gifts, including an expensive Graff wristwatch, which he had received as prime minister at a discounted price from the state custodian named Toshakhana, and sold it for a profit.
Imran Khan was removed from power in April last year after losing a vote of no confidence, making him the first Pakistani prime minister to be voted out by the National Assembly.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is being published from a syndicated feed.)