RAWALPINDI: In a move set to increase political temperatures in the garrison city, the PML-N on Monday announced its decision to hold an Independence Day public gathering on August 13 near Lal Haveli, where Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has already planned to arrange a rally the same day.

Ending their internal conflicts, the PML-N local leaders joined hands against Awami Muslim League (AML) of Sheikh Rashid and announced to show their street power near his residence. The announcement was made at a press briefing at the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Press Club.

The PML-N Rawalpindi office is located a few yards away from Lal Haveli. The PML-N will hold the public meeting in front of the party office at Iqbal Road.

Former MNAs Hanif Abbasi, Malik Shakil Awan and PML-N city president Sardar Naseem spoke at the press briefing for the first time after about eight years.

The local leaders of the ruling party, headed by Sardar Naseem, did not accept former MNA Hanif Abbasi after he joined the PML-N before the 2008 elections.

However, to counter the ‘propaganda’ of Sheikh Rashid against the ruling party over Panama papers leaks, the PML-N leaders finally decided to join hands.

A senior leader of the PML-N told Dawn that the idea to hold the public meeting was given by Hanif Abbasi as he got reports that Imran Khan would also attend the public meeting of Sheikh Rashid.

He said the PML-N leadership was annoyed with the local leaders for not countering Sheikh Rashid’s propagated against the Sharif family.

He said due to Sheikh Rashid’s recent statements over Panama leaks, the PML-N leadership wanted to counter him in the public.

Former MNA Malik Shakil Awan told Dawn that the PML-N local leaders decided to hold the public meeting to celebrate the Independence Day.

“We wanted to inform the opposition about the street power of the PML-N in the garrison city as the so-called opposition leaders are not real representatives of the city,” he said.

Former MNA Hanif Abbasi said, “It is the decision of the local leaders of the PML-N to keep Sheikh Rashid’s mouth shut as he is speaking a lot against our leadership without any reason.”

He said the venue for the public gathering was chosen after consulting all the local leaders.

On the other hand, Sheikh Rashid’s nephew and former nazim of Rawal Town, Sheikh Rashid Shafique, told Dawn that the PML-N wanted to stop the rallies toward Lal Haveli via Iqbal Road.

“The ruling party announced to hold the public meeting after getting direction from Maryam Nawaz just to disturb the public meeting of Sheikh Rashid. We have been holding such an event at Lal Haveli for over 30 years and the PML-N leaders want to create unrest in the city,” he said.

“After failing to deliver, the ruling party is trying to stop people from attending the AML public meeting. We submitted an application to the local administration and the police for the security of the rally a month ago and if any untoward incident occurred the police and the administration will be responsible,” he added.

Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2016