Daily Times

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has submitted a formal application to the Rawalpindi administration, requesting permission to hold a public rally on September 28. The application, addressed to the deputy commissioner, proposes two potential venues: Liaquat Bagh and Bhatta Chowk.

This move comes after Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur’s recent announcement that PTI would be organising public gatherings in Mianwali and Rawalpindi, following their rally in Lahore on September 21. Despite facing challenges in securing approvals for public events due to security concerns and other official restrictions, PTI held rallies in Islamabad and Lahore under strict conditions. Notably, the Lahore rally was cut short when authorities intervened, cutting off the microphone and lights after the event ran past the 6 pm deadline set in the no-objection certificate (NOC).

Meanwhile, PTI also submitted an application to the Lahore district administration, requesting permission to hold a rally at Minar-e-Pakistan on October 5. The request, filed by PTI’s provincial vice president Akmal Khan Bari, seeks approval for the rally to take place from 5 pm to 10 pm.

In the application, the party highlighted that October 5 marks the birthday of PTI founder Imran Khan, and party workers and leaders wish to celebrate the occasion by expressing their admiration through the rally.

The application also assured the administration that all participants would strictly adhere to constitutional and legal protocols.

Separately, Imran Khan has claimed that the country has been turned into a “police state” while prevailing conditions are even harsher than what was witnessed during the martial law.

“This is a martial law which is far stricter than [former military rulers] Zia-ul-Haq and Pervez Musharraf’s martial law,” Khan said while taking a jibe at the incumbent government led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) during an informal conversation with journalists at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail.

Last week, the deposed premier, who has been behind bars for over a year now, had termed the former military rulers Pervez Musharraf and Zia-ul-Haq’s martial law regimes “better” than the current democratic setup.

The deposed prime minister said that the Supreme Court’s verdict on the reserved seats had made everything clear.

He added that the bid to keep the former ruling party out of the election and remove his party from the country’s political landscape was “fully exposed”.

He has time and time again criticised the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led administration for not being a “legitimate” while citing alleged interference and manipulation in the February 8 polls.

Throwing shade at the coalition government, Khan said that the subordinate judiciary was in complete control of the current rulers. He further alleged that any judge, who is not in control of the rulers, got transferred.

The former premier also claimed that a judge was also replaced who was going to give a verdict in the May 9 mayhem cases.

Expressing displeasure over the judiciary’s lack of response, Khan claimed that the PTI’s request for hearing its petitions against the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) amendments’ case was also turned down.

He also alleged that the amended Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Ordinance was promulgated to “violate the democratic procedure to fix hearing of cases”.

He was referring to the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Amendment Ordinance 2024 approved by President Asif Ali Zardari last week which granted additional powers to the chief justice to nominate a judge as a member of a committee and assign cases.

The cricketer-turned-politician also unveiled a schedule of his party’s upcoming protests and a power show.

He said that the PTI would register a protest for the independence of the judiciary on Thursday followed by another demonstration on Friday.

He added that a power show would be organised in Rawalpindi on September 28 and warned that his party would strongly react if permission is not granted for the public gathering.