LAHORE: Thousands of people arrived in Lahore from different parts of Pakistan on Saturday to attend a rally by former prime minister Imran Khan’s party to demand his release as the provincial government asked organizers to abide by the law and end the gathering by 6pm as agreed.
After days of uncertainty, the Lahore administration on Friday evening allowed Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to hold the rally from 3-6pm in the Kahna area of the city, subject to compliance with 43 conditions, including that supporters would not cause unrest or chant anti-state slogans.
The main aim of the rally, which follows one held in the federal capital of Islamabad on Sept. 8, is to mobilize supporters for the release of Khan, who has been in jail since August last year. He was convicted in four cases since he was first taken into custody, all of which have been either suspended or overturned by the courts. Khan, however, remains in jail on new charges brought against him regarding the illegal sale of gifts from a state repository while he was prime minister from 2018-22.
Television footage showed caravans of Khan supporters arriving in Lahore from various cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the PTI has been in power, and elsewhere in Punjab to attend the rally, with long queues of vehicles forming on sections of the Islamabad-Lahore motorway reportedly due to road closures. Most of Lahore remained open for traffic but access to a main thoroughfare, the Ring Road, leading to the venue, was blocked at a few locations as preparations were ongoing for Saturday’s rally.
“Our demands are simple, only that the rule of law applies to Imran Khan’s cases,” Salman Akram Raja, PTI secretary-general, told Arab News. “Most [of the cases] have been discarded, so will the rest, as will the arrest.”
“There’s no basis for detaining the most popular political leader in the country,” he continued, adding: “History is on our side.”
Naeem Haider Panjutha, Khan’s spokesperson on legal affairs, also sought justice for the ex-premier.
“The gross miscarriage of justice carries on for over a year now, we will keep fighting till our party leader is free,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Punjab provincial administration warned PTI leaders and workers not to indulge in any lawlessness.
“Nobody will be allowed to [violate the law],” Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari said at a presser Saturday afternoon. “Organizers are responsible of ending the rally by 6pm.”
Bokhari criticized the Khan-backed KP government for allegedly utilizing public resources for the rally and said the gathering could not help get him out of prison. She signaled to the possible arrest of suspects wanted in cases related to violence during PTI protests in May last year.
“The Punjab administration, under the supervision of the chief minister, is fully monitoring everything in the city and the province from the beginning of this rally till it disperses,” the minister said.
Only a day earlier, the PTI complained of a crackdown on supporters ahead of the rally, saying authorities had arrested dozens of PTI members and supporters. Punjab Police Director of Public Relations Syed Mubashar Hussain declined to comment on the arrests.
The PTI says it has faced an over year-long crackdown since protesters allegedly linked to the party attacked and damaged government and military installations on May 9, 2023 after Khan’s brief arrest that day in a land graft case. Hundreds of PTI followers and leaders were arrested following the riots and many remain behind bars as they await trial. The military has also initiated army court trials of at least 103 people accused of involvement in the violence.
The party says it was not allowed to campaign freely ahead of Feb. 8 general elections, a vote marred by a mobile Internet shutdown on election day and unusually delayed results, leading to accusations that it was rigged and drawing concern from rights groups and foreign governments.
The PTI says it won the most seats, but its mandate was “stolen” by the coalition led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, which it says formed the government with the backing of the all-powerful military. Both deny the claim.