Daily Times

As the one-day moratorium on political activity takes effect, with elections scheduled nationwide for tomorrow (Thursday), Punjab police have detained 15 active workers of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in Chakwal, a city located around 106 kilometers from the capital.

Available details reveal that the Punjab police have arrested dozens of PTI workers in the city and its adjoining villages. Furthermore, police personnel continue to raid party workers, even at small union councils and village levels. Among the arrested party workers are Raja Sajid Iqbal, Jameel Haider, Mirza Tabasum Faraz, Malik Arshad Bhulial, Faiz Ahmed Faizi, and Raja Arshad Mehmood.

Despite repeated attempts, District Police Officer (DPO) Wahid Mehmood could not be approached. However, PTI’s district President Chaudhry Ali Nasir Bhatti confirmed to Daily Times, saying that it was sheer discrimination and a violation of fundamental human rights.

“We are not allowed to hold even corner meetings, while on the other hand, our opponents are openly doing this,” he complained.

Chakwal has two national assembly constituencies, NA-58 and NA-59. Veteran columnist and former PML-N leader Ayaz Amir have been fielded by the beleaguered PTI as its candidate for the NA-58 constituency. Muhammad Roman Ahmed is PTI’s supported candidate for NA-59.

Likewise, the district has four provincial assembly seats: PP-20, PP-21, PP-22, and PP-23. PTI has fielded Chaudhry Ali Nasir Bhatti, Raja Tariq Afzal Kalas, Hakeem Nisar Ahmad, and Sultan Surkhro Awan respectively.

The PTI district leadership fears that more abductions and disappearances of its potential workers may occur before election day. “We have come to know that a vicious plan of abducting our polling agents has been hatched,” the General Secretary of PTI in tehsil Chakwal, Advocate Syed Najamul Hassan Kazmi, who is also the vice president of Insaf Lawyers Forum (ILF), said.

Kazmi stated that a polling agent is vital for any political party on the day of the election because the results of any polling station are compiled and announced in the presence of him/her, who is also given Form 45 containing the results. “The entire administrative machinery is busy digging out such workers and picking them up,” he further said.

Late in December, six party workers were granted interim bails by the district magistrate who were booked in the May 9 incidents.

It may be noted that PTI’s supported NA-58 candidate Ayaz Amir gained popularity among the rank and file of the PTI after his hard-hitting speech delivered in Islamabad. Amir was assaulted in Lahore by unknown men a few days after the said speech. Both the speech and the subsequent assault were turning points for his destiny to jump into politics after many years.

His residence, located in the heart of Chakwal, was offering a desolate look a few days ago, but now it has turned into a hub of political activity. With his political campaign in full swing, people from the city as well as remote villages have started visiting Amir to express their support.

According to him, he decided to contest the election on Imran Khan’s order, who is in jail. “I received an order from Adiala Jail through someone, asking me to contest the election,” he told a local gathering. Amir, a veteran columnist, comes from a political family. His father was elected an MNA of the Pakistan Peoples Party in 1970. After the death of his father, Ayaz Amir remained with the PPP for some time but later joined Meraj Mohammad Khan’s Qaumi Mahaz-e-Azadi in pursuit of a socialist revolution. In 1997, he managed to get PML-N’s ticket and was elected as an MPA from Chakwal’s PP-18 (now PP-22) constituency. He resigned later on.

In 2002, he contested on PML-N’s platform for an NA seat but could not clinch the slot. In 2008, he received more votes than any other MNA in Punjab on PML-N’s ticket. In 2013, the PML-N did not field him due to his differences with the party leadership. Subsequently, he parted ways from PML-N.”