PDM granted permission for October 16 rally in Gujranwala
The opposition’s Pakistan Democratic Movement has been granted permission to hold its rally in Gujranwala’s Jinnah Ground on October 16.
The permission was granted Thursday morning after a 28-point agreement was signed between PDM leaders and the Gujranwala administration. The city’s deputy commissioner has issued a notification granting permission for the October 16 rally.
As per the agreement, all roads leading into the city will be opened and containers will be removed. All people who have been arrested in relation to the rally will also be released. No raids will be conducted either.
However, the PDM is not allowed to block GT Road, which was their plan in case they weren’t granted permission for the rally.
The rally will be held from 3pm till midnight.
It will be mandatory for participants to observe anti-coronavirus SOPs at the rally. PDM leaders are only allowed to address the crowd in the stadium and no speeches are allowed against national security institutions or against the Constitution.
In case the agreement is not followed, a case will be registered against the rally organisers.
“We are taking to the streets,” PML-N’s Khurrum Dastgir told SAMAA TV’s Nadeem Malik on Wednesday. He said opposition leaders such as Maryam Nawaz, Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will address the rally after maghrib prayers.
The opposition parties formed the Pakistan Democratic Movement last month and announced that it will be holding rallies against the government before a “decisive march” in January.
Prime Minister Imran Khan, however, has termed the protest an attempt to force the government to withdraw corruption cases against them.
The PML-N, the host of the Gujranwala rally, has accused the government of arresting the workers of the opposition parties and going towards confrontational path. The PPP had accused the government of arresting its workers to sabotage the rally.
“I have no doubt the government will go towards confrontation,” said senior PPP leader Qamar Zaman Kaira. He claimed that police entered the residence of one of his office-bearers and arrested his servants.
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who is currently in London, has also asked police to not comply with the government’s orders to arrest the workers of the opposition parties.
“Police must not comply with Imran Niazi’s unlawful orders to arrest PMLN/PDM’s workers, raid their homes or hinder their travel to Gujranwala,” he said in a tweet.
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