LAHORE: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s Punjab president Shafqat Mahmood has regretted the Lahore district administration has yet not given permission to the party to hold its public meeting at the Minar-i-Pakistan scheduled for April 21.

Flanked by PTI Lahore president Sheikh Imtiaz Mahmood and secretary general Zubair Niazi, Mr Mahmood told a press conference here on Sunday that the PTI’s banners were being removed in the city.

He accused Chief Minister-elect Hamza Shehbaz and “his cronies” of planning to fail the PTI’s Lahore public meeting and blocking the PTI workers coming from other cities to attend the party’s power show.

He strongly condemned the torture of Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Parvez Elahi and MPAs by police on the floor of the house.that the PML-N had started torturing its opponents, adding that the party had also attacked the Supreme Court in the past.

He said the PML-N could not frighten the PTI leaders and workers by resorting to intimidating tactics.

He He said the PML-N had also held some public rallies, but these events proved a “failure”.

Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2022