Mardan admin refuses permission for PDM rally today

MARDAN: The PDM is all set to hold its rally here today (Wednesday) though the district administration has refused permission for the public gathering citing increase in the corona cases.

Addressing a press conference, ANP district president Latif-ur-Rahman, general secretary Haroon Khan, JUI district general secretary Maulana Amanat Shah, vice-president Tajul Ameen Jabal, PML-N district president Inayat Shah Bacha, PPP divisional president Shaukat Ali advocate, JUP’s Fayyaz Khan and others said the rally would start from the Gaju Khan Baba flyover on Swabi Road. They said the workers of the opposition parties from Swabi, Mardan and Nowshera would gather at Gaju Khan Baba flyover at 9 am. The speakers added that participants of the rally would pass through different bazaars of the city and would hold the gathering at Mardan-Nowshera Road.

PDM chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, PML-N’s Maryam Nawaz, ANP’s Ameer Haider Khan Hoti and Mian Iftikhar Hussain, Aftab Sherpao of the Qaumi Watan Party, former premier Yousaf Raza Gilani of the PPP and other leaders would address the rally. The politicians added that the public rally in Mardan was being held under the banner of the PDM to oust the PTI government. They maintained that they would hold the public gathering in Mardan as all arrangements had been made for it, adding that the workers and activists of the opposition parties would attend it in large numbers.

The government, they added, would be held accountable for any unrest if it created hurdles in the way of the peaceful rally. They said the opposition parties had made preparations for the rally, saying that the district office-bearers of all opposition parties had been directed to mobilise the rank and file of the parties at the tehsil and union council level for taking part in the showdown. Meanwhile, the Mardan Ring Road and other roads and streets leading to the Gaju Khan Baba flyover and Swabi and Nowshera road were decorated with party flags and banners of all component parties of the PDM.