Section 144 enforced in Lahore ahead of Imran Khan's rally

The Punjab caretaker government has once again imposed Section 144 in Lahore and imposed a ban on the Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) rally which is scheduled to take place today, Aaj News reported.

“We have restricted Rallies and Political activities for today as we have PSL Cricket Match, team movements, and Marathon in Lahore which were all planned and announced much in advance,” Punjab caretaker chief minister Mohsin Naqvi said in a Twitter post.

He went on to say that there is no ban on political activities,“ adding that all political parties are freely allowed to campaign.

Meanwhile, Punjab Caretaker Minister for Information and Culture Amir Mir clarified that the election campaign will start on April 6.

He advised PTI chairman Imran Khan to be careful, warning that strict action will be taken if the writ of the state is challenged.

The minister said that the restrictions could be extended if the situation got out of control.

Following the imposition of the ban, Imran Khan directed party lawyer Babar Awan to move the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) against the Punjab caretaker government’s decision.

The party in its petition stressed that the venue and time of its rally do not clash with other events in the city.

PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Saturday announced that he would lead a public rally on Sunday (today) in the Punjab capital and castigated the “authorities” for killing his party worker.

While addressing the PTI supporters gathered outside his residence through a video link, the former Prime Minister said that he would lead the election rally to show them that they were not domesticated animals.

He came hard on interim Chief Minister Punjab Mohsin Naqvi and IG Punjab Usman Anwar for declaring the death of PTI worker Ali Bilal aka Zille Shah accidental. He reiterated that Shah was murdered in police custody and demanded a judicial probe into it.

The PTI chief said that the “powerful” segments want to get the upcoming general elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cancelled at all costs.

“They would try to get the polls cancelled by assassinating a prominent personality or creating serious law and order situation in the country; I know that they would do something to stop the election,” he added.

The former premier accused the PML-N of launching an anti-judiciary campaign and said that Maryam Nawaz was targeting senior judges in public gatherings on daily basis. He claimed that they (the coalition partners) fear of him because they knew that the public would come out.

“Absconder Nawaz Sharif was sitting in London and he has no interest in Pakistan and makes decisions from there,” he added.

This is the second time that section 144 has been imposed in Lahore in a span of a few days. Earlier this week, the Punjab government imposed Section 144 in Lahore ahead of the election rally of the PTI.

Many PTI workers were taken into police custody for violating Section 144. All roads leading to PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s Zaman Park residence were cordoned off. Water cannons were used to dispel the PTI workers while police officials also smashed the windows of their cars.