Face-off risk looms as PDM adamant on holding rally despite arrests

Ag APP

ISLAMABAD: A question mark prevailed Sunday on whether the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) would be able to hold its rally in Multan today (Monday) after the government began to round up opposition workers in the wake of the police’s retaking of the rally venue in an overnight operation.

A day earlier, the opposition took over the rally venue, but later that night a large police contingent retook the venue, arrested Ali Kasim Gillani, former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gillani’s son and others who had occupied the Qasim Bagh Stadium, and resealed the venue and placed containers. A Geo News reporter described the scenes outside the stadium and all five paths into the venue were completely barricaded off with shipping containers, while police stood ready with tear gas and canes to fend off protesters.

On Sunday, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) spokeswoman Marriyum Aurangzeb told Geo News that about 20-40 party workers were “missing” after the police raided a local hotel. The government had banned public gatherings over coronavirus fears. Furthermore, a rally outside the venue led by PML-N’s Rana Sanaullah was dispersed.

Earlier, a defiant PDM president, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, on the other hand brushed off threats of legal action and told workers that they were permitted to use force if the police were to use force against them. He was accompanied by former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gillani, who said the government had made the rally successful even before the gathering took place.

Earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan rounded on the opposition for its “sole and desperate goal” of saving their families’ “looted wealth” despite a second Covid-19 spike in the country.

The Prime Minister, in a series of tweets said the protection of the “looted money and corruption” was an integral part of the opposition’s politics. “This is all that guides their politics, not any concern for the lives of ordinary citizens,” Khan said.

“Their desperation to get NRO any way they can, motivates them,” the Prime Minister said. “They think this is their last means of pressuring us for NRO, which will never happen.”

He said during the first wave of the coronavirus, “these leaders demanded complete lockdown opposing the government’s smart lockdown strategy aimed at saving poor from becoming destitute and economy from total collapse”.

“Now, with new spike, when we again need smart lockdown, they want Jalsas (public gatherings) not caring for the lives and safety of people,” he added. “Having never worked a day in their lives, their ‘shahi’ (royal) lifestyles were directly dependent on saving their families’ ill-gotten and illegally acquired wealth through robbing and impoverishing the nation.”

He believed that the opposition leaders lacked any empathy with the masses as their families looted national wealth to further impoverish the people. “These entitled ‘leaders’ living like royalty in their secluded mansions, have simply inherited their positions because of their families,” he remarked.

The Prime Minister said the problem confronting Pakistan during Covid-19 was of a political leadership that had never gone through any democratic struggle. He said the opposition leaders had neither worked with ordinary citizens to understand the problems they were confronted with nor contributed in any substantive way for the betterment of ordinary citizens. Meanwhile, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government registered a case against several leaders of the PDM for their alleged violation of the Epidemic Control and Emergency Relief Act-2020. The criminal complaint said some leaders of different political parties violated the District Administration’s ban on public gatherings and put people’s lives in danger.

The complaint said Maulana Miskeen Shah, District Ameer of JUI-F, Rashid Mehmood Daoodzai, District president PML-N, Malik Saeed, district president PPP, Malik Mohammad Saleem district chairman QWP, Malik Farhad Khan district president ANP and others “clearly violated the district administration’s directive”. It also alleged some were also found brandishing arms in the public gathering held on November 22. Further investigation and procedure for likely arrests was started.