LAHORE: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has decided to hold a public meeting at the historical Mochi Gate ground here on Feb 5 a day after ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s show in Peshawar.

A PPP press release says the decision to hold the public meeting was taken after a meeting between Punjab leadership of the party and co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari here on Thursday.

But an insider claims that Mr Zardari, disappointed at the poor attendance at the opposition parties’ joint show on The Mall, had immediately after the protest meeting asked the local PPP leadership to organise the Mochi Gate event “to prove that the party alone can arrange a better show”.

The party would also use the event to express solidarity with the Kashmiris, says the release issued after the meeting.

It quoted Asif Ali Zardari as saying that India would be given a strong message on the occasion to stop violations of the Line of Control (LoC) and that the pledge to continue moral, political and diplomatic support of the Kashmiris would be renewed.

Meanwhile, Punjab chapter general secretary Chaudhry Manzoor has announced that the party will hold a candlelit vigil for Zainab at three points – the place from where she had been kidnapped, the spot where her body was found and her grave in Kasur – to mark 15th day of the incident on Friday.

PTI: Opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly Mian Mahmoodur Rasheed has said his party chief has not insulted the Parliament.

He said the PML-N had desecrated the sanctity of the Parliament and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf wanted to restore its sanctity.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2018