Hammad Azhar’s father arrested in Lahore over ‘election rally’

LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Hammad Azhar claimed on Sunday that his father has been taken into custody by police for attempting to take out an election rally in Lahore ahead of the February 8 elections, Geo News reported.

Mian Azhar, the 82-year-old former Punjab governor, wanted to lead a rally as per his democratic and constitutional right, Azhar wrote on his X handle.

“Pakistan has today been reduced to a total fascist state with zero human rights or rule of law. One Nawaz Sharif & his daughter calling the shots and ruining the country,” he alleged.

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) leader Farid Paracha condemned the arrest of the former Punjab governor saying "Mian Azhar is a senior politician and a respectable personality".

The development comes as canvassing for polls has gained momentum in the country with just less than two weeks left in the general elections.

The PTI and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) have claimed that they are being denied a level playing field to partake in the elections.

Incarcerated Imran Khan-led PTI suffered a huge blow earlier this month after the Supreme Court upheld the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) verdict to take away its iconic bat electoral symbol owing to "unconstitutional" intra-party polls.

Last week, the provincial government in Punjab imposed Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) across the province in the wake of security risks ahead of the February 8 general elections.

The provincial home department notified imposing Section 144, according to which there would be a complete ban on the exhibition of arms and aerial firing in Punjab, which is the most populous province and the heartland of politics.

Moreover, the adherence to the ECP code of conduct for the upcoming polls also falls under the imposed law, the notification read.

It stated there are reports of security threats and the likelihood of "terrorism" and quarrels between election candidates during the ongoing electioneering.

According to the home department's notification, Section 144 has been imposed till February 12 and any violation would result in action by the authorities.

With the year 2023 culminating as one of the worst, since 2015, in terms of terror-related incidents, the country's upcoming polls are surrounded by doubts over the security and safety of both candidates and voters.