Ajit Karn
Lahore: Imran Khan led a march of thousands of his supporters as Islamabad police arrived to apprehend him after two non-bailable arrest warrants were issued against him, a day after he cancelled his party’s election rally in Punjab’s provincial capital due to a moratorium on public gatherings.
The supporters of the 70-year-old former cricketer-turned-politician flung rose petals at the convoy transporting him to the Data Darbar shrine, where he is expected to speak to his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf workers. A significant number of women also attended the rally.
Two non-bailable arrest warrants were issued against Khan for neglecting to appear in court in the Toshakhana case and for menacing a female magistrate while addressing a public gathering in Lahore last year.
The district administration of Lahore convened with the party’s leadership earlier to discuss the rally’s route and security arrangements.
However, the district administration stipulated that no leader would speak out against the judiciary or any other institution.
As the interim government had instructed the PTI leadership to terminate the rally by 5:30 p.m., it was unable to reach its destination (the Data Darbar shrine) by 7:45 p.m. Khan is conducting the procession from a bomb-proof vehicle.
Fawad Chaudhry, a senior PTI leader, has warned the government against attempting to halt the rally. “Observe the events at the Lahore rally at this time and you will realise that stopping Imran Khan is tantamount to courting public wrath,” he said.
After Punjab’s interim government forbade public gatherings in the provincial capital, Khan cancelled his party’s planned election rally in Lahore on Sunday.
Khan announced in a televised address on Saturday that he will lead an election campaign rally in Lahore on Sunday and exhorted his supporters and employees to attend in response to alleged police brutality against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.
In the aftermath of a Pakistan Super League (PSL) cricket match in the city, the local administration enforced Section 144 in the provincial capital and prohibited public gatherings shortly after his announcement.
Khan’s party contacted the Election Commission and the courts in opposition to the government’s action, arguing that Section 144 should be declared null and invalid.
Later, in an unexpected move, he postponed the rally and warned his employees not to “fall into this snare.”
“As all other public activities continue in Lahore, it appears that Sec 144 has been illegally imposed solely on the PTI election campaign. Only Zaman Park is surrounded by containers and a large police force. Evidently, like 8 March, Punjab CM and police want to provoke clashes in order to file more phoney FIRs against PTI leaders and activists and use them as an excuse to delay elections “Khan published a tweet.
His message to his supporters was “do not fall into this snare.”
“Therefore, the rally has been postponed until tomorrow,” he tweeted.
Mohsin Naqvi, Punjab’s interim chief minister, stated that there was no prohibition on political activities in the city. “All political parties are permitted to campaign without restriction,” he tweeted.
One member of Khan’s party was slain Wednesday during a crackdown on his supporters who defied a government ban on rallies in Lahore by gathering outside his residence.
In the meantime, the Lahore police arrested Khan in a separate case involving the death of a PTI employee, Ali Bilal a.k.a. Zille Shah, in a road accident.
Previously, the Lahore police had lodged a First Information Report (FIR) against Khan and 400 others for the assassination of Shah.
A senior police officer told PTI that a new FIR had been registered against Imran Khan, Fawad Chaudhry, Dr. Yasmin Rashid, and a number of other PTI members for abetment to murder and concealing facts and evidence related to the death of Zille Shah.
According to him, the police may apprehend Khan and others named in the FIR upon direction from “above.” On March 8, the PTI accused the police of murdering Shah after brutally torturing him.
This is the 81st FIR against Khan since the PML-N-led federal coalition came to power 11 months ago after his government was toppled by a vote of no confidence.
Khan was deposed in April after losing a vote of no confidence in his leadership, which he claimed was part of a US-led plot to remove him from power due to his independent foreign policy decisions regarding Russia, China, and Afghanistan.
