Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan held an election rally on Monday from Lahore’s Zaman Park to Data Darbar after the local administration granted permission for it, Dawn reported.
The election rally began from Zaman Park with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan leading it in the bulletproof vehicle, as per the news report. Videos shared on PTI’s official Twitter handle showed a large number of supporters and workers gathering on the streets as the rally moved toward its destination. A number of PTI leaders, especially from Punjab along with their supporters participated in the rally.
PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry took to his official Twitter handle to share details regarding rally’s strength. He tweeted, “Watch the scenes of the rally in Lahore at this time and understand that stopping Imran Khan is like inviting people’s wrath.”
Speaking to reporters before the start of the rally, PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi said, “I will say to the administration we have to remain peaceful, have remained peaceful and don’t want chaos. We have no intention of destroying the peace and this is not our party’s thinking or plan of action,” as per the Dawn report.
The rally was originally scheduled for Sunday. However, the rally was postponed after Punjab’s caretaker government had imposed Section 144 citing a Pakistan Super League match in the Qaddafi Stadium and a marathon race in the city.
The Punjab caretaker government permitted the PTI to carry out the rally on Monday. However, the administration had said that it would carry “high-security risk due to the general and specific threats against political gatherings and previous instance of attack on the ex-prime minister,” as per the news report.
On Sunday, Imran Khan criticized the Punjab caretaker government’s decision of imposing Section 144. He tweeted, “It seems again Sec 144 has been imposed illegally solely on PTI election campaign as all other public activities are ongoing in Lahore. Only Zaman Park has been surrounded by containers & heavy police contingent. Clearly, like 8 March, Punjab CM & police want to provoke clashes.”