ISLAMABAD: After several ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Thursday finally reached an agreement over the latter’s Nov 30 rally, but the party has not been issued a No-Objection Certificate (NoC) yet.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan also told reporters that after saying they didn’t need anyone’s permission, Imran Khan’s party had now formally applied for permission to hold the rally.

The settlement between the two parties came after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) asked the PTI leadership to discuss their apprehensions with the district magistrate.

NOC may be issued on Friday; interior minister says govt will not try to stop workers but violence would not be tolerated

As per the agreement signed between the PTI and Islamabad administration, which will be produced in the IHC on Friday, police will not arrest PTI workers; the district administration will not block the main roads with containers, except around D-Chowk, which is expected to be the venue for the Nov 30 rally.

In addition, the two sides decided that while the district administration would be responsible for overall security, the party would also deploy volunteers to protect participants of the rally, PTI’s Islamabad MNA Asad Umar told Dawn.

He said that a formal NOC for the rally would be issued by Friday.

According to Mr Umar, section 144 will remain in force in the capital, but that would not affect PTI workers’ march towards D-Chowk. Party workers would also be free to hold corner meetings in their respective areas as well, he said.

Confirming that the government had indeed reached an agreement with PTI, Additional Deputy Commissioner Abdul Sattar Esani said that the party still had to submit an affidavit, following which a formal NOC would be issued.

A senior official of the Islamabad administration told Dawn that contractors of the metro bus project have also been asked to remove machinery and other equipment from the surroundings of D-Chowk until the end of PTI’s rally.

PTI lawyer Farrukh Dall, however, said that the district administration has refused to give them a written assurance that they would not harass PTI workers and this matter would be taken up in court during Friday’s hearing.

IHC Justice Athar Minallah, hearing a petition filed by PTI leaders Jahangir Tareen, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Dr Arif Alvi, Shafqat Mehmood and Asad Umar challenging the imposition of section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), asked the petitioners to first approach the district administration and, in case their concerns remained unaddressed, the petitioner could approach the court again.

Section 144 of the CrPC empowers the district administration to issue orders in the public interest that may place a ban on an activity for a specific period of time. Such a ban is enforced by the police, who register cases under section 188 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) for violations of the ban. Section 188 carries a maximum penalty of six months in prison or fines or both.

In their latest petition, PTI leaders contended that section 144 was lifted last month but was re-imposed before Muharram. They said that they feared the government would misuse the law to intimidate and round up PTI workers.

During Thursday’s hearing, Justice Minallah asked the PTI’s counsel whether they discussed the matter with the district administration before approaching the court. When the counsel said that they had not discussed this particular matter, the judge asked them to convey their concerns to the district magistrate.

Dictating his order Justice Minallah said, “The district magistrate shall ensure that the fundamental rights of every citizen, including the applicants (PTI), be protected.”

The judge directed them to meet the district magistrate by 5pm on Thursday and adjourned further hearing of this case until Friday.

Interior minister

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar said on Thursday that the government would not hinder peaceful political activity, but maintained that they would respond with the full force of the state if any attempt was made to invade Parliament House.

He said the state would not allow its writ to be challenged and that Article 245 was still in force in the capital.

Earlier, speaking at the National Police Academy, he said water cannons might have to be used for the first time on Nov 30, if the need arose.

Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2014