ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s deputy interior minister Tallal Chaudhry on Tuesday vowed to uphold a preventive law-and-order measure barring public rallies and processions ahead of planned protests by the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, saying no such activity would be allowed in Rawalpindi or Islamabad.
The statement came after the PTI of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan said its legislators would stage a “peaceful protest” outside the Islamabad High Court over restricted access to Khan despite judicial orders.
The party has also called for a demonstration outside the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, where Khan has been incarcerated in a string of cases he says are politically motivated since his 2022 ouster in a parliamentary no-confidence vote.
Khan’s family has said they have no direct or verifiable contact with him, despite a court-mandated schedule for weekly meetings.
“Section 144 is imposed for the protection of life and property,” Chaudhry said while speaking to the media in front of the parliamentary building, referring to the legal provision in the Code of Criminal Procedure preventing public processions and gatherings.
“There has been an incident in Islamabad,” he said, pointing to a suicide bombing outside the district court last month. “Whether they [the PTI leaders] come to Islamabad High Court or go to Adiala, a ban of 144 will be imposed without any discrimination.”
Rumors have swirled in recent weeks about possible transfers of Khan from Adiala amid renewed concerns about his health, though a jail official told Reuters the former prime minister was in good condition and said he was not aware of any plan to move him to a higher-security facility.
Khan’s family says the lack of communication has fueled fears over what it calls a deliberate effort to push him out of public sight.
His son, Kasim Khan, told Reuters the situation amounted to “psychological torture,” saying he did not know whether his father was “safe, injured or even alive.”
“Today we have no verifiable information at all about his condition,” he said. “Our greatest fear is that something irreversible is being hidden from us.”
With input from Reuters
