ISLAMABAD, AUG 18: Adviser to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister on Information Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif on Sunday revealed that incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan has “decided” to hold a public rally in Islamabad on August 22.
“We guarantee that there will be no law and order issue,” Saif said during a press conference in Islamabad, adding that the party will try to avoid any violation of law on their part.
The PTI leader’s remarks come against the backdrop of its months-long struggle to hold a public gathering in the federal capital wherein authorities have time again denied it the permission to hold a rally citing security concerns.
In June, Islamabad High Court’s Justice Babar Sattar, while hearing a petition filed by the Imran Khan-founded party seeking permission to hold a rally, had directed the party and the city’s administration to amicably sort out the issue after which the deputy commissioner allowed the PTI to hold a public gathering.
However, Islamabad Chief Commissioner Muhammad Ali Randhawa later suspended the no objection certificate (NOC) citing the beginning of the month of Muharram and security concerns along with complaints lodged by the local people.
Subsequently, the party moved the IHC seeking contempt of court proceedings against those responsible for the suspension of the NOC.
After the PTI’s plea was disposed of by the court, the party then once again sought the district administration’s permission for a public meeting on August 13 in the federal capital.
The former ruling party, for months, has been striving to hold a public rally and Barrister Saif’s announcement comes after his boss and KP CM Ali Amin Gandapur’s statement, made earlier this month, regarding a public gathering in Islamabad.
“No one can stop us from [staging a rally],” Gandapur had said while addressing the PTI public gathering held in KP’s Swabi to mark the one-year imprisonment of party founder Khan.
Elaborating on the party’s rally today, the CM’s adviser said that the public gathering will be attended by a large number of people from KP.
Noting that the PTI founder made it clear that the party was to approach the administration and the courts, Saif remarked that the country was facing a difficult situation.
“Don’t create more bitterness by putting barriers,” he said.
