ISLAMABAD: Chief Minister of Pakistan’s most populous province, Punjab, said on Saturday the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) was playing with people’s lives by continuing with their Lahore rally on Sunday, despite the country gripped by a second wave of the coronavirus.
The PDM is an 11-party opposition alliance that is holding nationwide rallies as part of a campaign to oust the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan and call for early elections.
“Playing with the lives of citizens in the current coronavirus situation is not reasonable and cannot be permitted,” Usman Buzdar said, while speaking to media.
“You cannot justify this kind of gathering... they are not being held anywhere in the world. What is the emergency?” he continued.
As of Saturday, Lahore’s positivity rate for COVID-19 is over 4.5 percent. Out of a total 71 deaths over the last 24 hours, Punjab had the highest rate of fatalities in the country.
The National Counter Terrorism Authority has also warned of a possible terrorist attempt in Lahore on Sunday.
The rally will be held in the grounds of the historic Minar-e-Pakistan monument. Arrangements for the gathering are underway and various roads and neighborhoods in the area have been sealed off for security, local media reported.
The PDM has said the rally on Sunday will mark the end of the alliance campaign’’s first phase.’
On Friday, Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari ruled out dialogue with the government.
Punjab chief Buzdar says opposition 'playing with lives' ahead of Lahore rally
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Punjab chief Buzdar says opposition 'playing with lives' ahead of Lahore rally
- Lahore’s COVID-19 positivity rate is over 4.5 percent
- National Counter Terrorism Authority has warned of a possible terrorism attempt in Lahore on Sunday
Pakistan cricket chief says boycott of India match aimed at restoring Bangladesh’s dignity
- Mohsin Naqvi says Pakistan sought to highlight Bangladesh’s grievances in World Cup dispute
- His comments come a day after Pakistan reversed decision to boycott the Feb. 15 India clash
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s decision to briefly threaten a boycott of its Twenty20 World Cup match against India was intended to highlight what it saw as unfair treatment of Bangladesh and to press for the concerns raised by Bangladeshi officials to be addressed, Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Mohsin Naqvi said on Tuesday.
Pakistan withdrew its decision a day earlier to skip the Group A clash scheduled for Feb. 15 in Colombo, ending a week-long standoff with the International Cricket Council (ICC) that had drawn intervention from several member boards amid fears of disruption to the tournament.
“Our objective was only to ensure that Bangladesh was treated with dignity and that the injustice done to them was highlighted,” Naqvi told journalists in Peshawar. “You saw that whatever points Bangladesh raised were accepted. That’s it. We had no personal agenda of our own in this.”
Bangladesh had raised security concerns about playing its World Cup matches in India amid political tensions between the two countries and sought the relocation of its fixtures to Sri Lanka, a request that was turned down by the ICC. Subsequently, Bangladesh chose to withdraw from the tournament and were replaced by Scotland instead.
Pakistan cited Bangladesh’s removal from the original schedule as unjust when it initially instructed its team not to face India, a move that would have resulted in a forfeiture.
The decision led to a crisis situation since the India-Pakistan match is the biggest and most lucrative clash in the world of cricket, leading to a frantic weekend of negotiations.
The reversal allows Pakistan to proceed with the marquee India match after Bangladesh’s concerns were accommodated by the ICC, Naqvi said.
Pakistan, who edged past the Netherlands in their opening game, face the United States today in Group A, with India set to travel to Colombo for the Feb. 15 clash.
Pakistan and India, bitter political rivals, have not played bilateral cricket for more than a decade and meet only at global tournaments at neutral venues.
