Lahore: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairperson Imran Khan on Sunday postponed his election rally in Lahore.
The PTI called of rally after the interim government refused to take back the Section 144 imposed in the provincial capital.
Taking to Twitter, the PTI chief claimed that the Section 144 was imposed “illegally solely on PTI election campaign” despite other public activities 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 leadership and workers and to use as pretext for postponing elections,” said the former prime minister.
The PTI chief questioned how Section 144 can be imposed in the provincial capital despite the announcement of the election schedule. Uh
Later, in a press conference, PTI leader Hammad Azhar confirmed the postponement of the rally and said that it might be “staged tomorrow or at a later date”.
This is the second time in less than a week that the interim government has imposed the restriction ahead of the election rally of the party — which has severely criticised the caretaker set-up for being “partial”.
Hours before the rally, the police started blocking the roads leading to Zaman Park. The road leading from Mall Road to Canal Road and Harbanspura to Zaman Park was closed.
Moreover, a heavy contingent of police has been deployed on various routes.
The Punjab government, in its letter to the Ministry of Interior, had also asked the federal government to provide it with Rangers in the city to maintain the law and order.
The letter stated that the Rangers should be deployed with immediate effect till March 22
