ISLAMABAD: Lashing out at the federal government for delaying the issuance of a no-objection certificate (NOC) for holding a public meeting on July 6 in Tarnol, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leaders on Tuesday announced that they would hold a record-breaking public gathering at the designated place, come what may.

They said Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Maryam Nawaz had held public gatherings and sit-ins without any obstacles during the PTI’s tenure but they were not being allowed to hold the meeting.

This announcement was made during a press conference by senior PTI leaders, including Additional Secretary General Firdous Shamim Naqvi, Shoaib Shaheen and PTI Islamabad President Amir Mughal.

They made it clear that permission or no permission, a successful and peaceful public gathering would be held with public support, with the slogan ‘Qaidi 804 ka Nara, Azadi Haq Hamara’.

Speaking on the occasion, Amir Mughal said the PTI had been struggling for a long time to get an NOC to hold a public gathering in Islamabad, but the administration was denying permission on flimsy grounds. He recalled that the party had been given permission to hold a public gathering on Ramazan 27 but the party leadership did not accept the date and requested for another date after Eid.

Mr Mughal said subsequently the PTI was allowed to hold a gathering in a remote area in Rawat, but it refused on the ground that it was not a suitable location.

He said eventually, Islamabad High Court (IHC) was moved and on June 26, Judge Babar Sattar directed the party leadership and the local administration to mutually and amicably sort out the issue.

The deputy commissioner Islamabad agreed to allow PTI to hold the gathering, but did not issue an NOC despite a lapse of several days, he said.

Amir Mughal said they were left with very little time to make arrangements for such a mega event, as they needed at least seven days to complete the arrangements. However, he made it clear that the PTI would hold a peaceful gathering and appealed to all people from across the country to participate in the public meeting.

Speaking on the occasion, Shamim Naqvi said it was their constitutional right to hold peaceful gatherings, adding that it was not a PTI public gathering but a grand opposition alliance.

However, the government was hell bent upon strangulating democracy and fundamental human rights through unlawful measures, he said, making it clear that the PTI would hold the public gathering at the designated place at the given time because they had taken all legally and constitutionally required steps.

Mr Naqvi urged people from across the country to take part and make it a historic event, saying that stability in the country could only be possible by limiting the role of political parties and all state institutions to their constitutional ambit.

Speaking on the occasion, Shoaib Shaheen said all political leaders, including Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Maryam Nawaz had held public gatherings and sit-ins without any obstacles during PTI’s tenure, but alleged that the PTI leaders and workers were facing state brutality and coercion for the last two years.

He went on to say that the government was scared of Imran Khan and PTI, hence they were not allowing the party to hold a public gathering, but it would take place.

Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2024