Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) celebrated Independence Day with different rallies in various cities. But the police used force on several party workers, and some have been taken into custody.
Outside Punjab Assembly PTI
In Lahore, the opposition had planned to celebrate outside the Punjab Assembly. However, the opposition leadership did not allow them to hold any event when they arrived. Police had blocked the roads leading to the assembly from Aiwan-e-Iqbal Chowk with barriers. Malik Ahmad Khan Bhachar, Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly, expressed his anger. And asked whether they were being treated like terrorists. He blamed the police for trying to intimidate them. And barricading their entry into assembly premises. He said, “Our fundamental rights are being suppressed. And we are not being allowed to celebrate Independence Day.”
They started with a rally from Aiwan-e-Iqbal Chowk up to the the main gate of Aiwan-e-Iqbal led by the the opposition leader in the assembly. There was a hide-and-seek between police and opposition that lasted for a considerable period. Suddenly, the opposition leader drove a convoy of vehicles onto Mall Road while being chased closely by police officers. While distributing party flags amongst those members who were present at assembly meetings, two PTI workers were arrested by police, forcing the opposition leader to block one such vehicle of police and sit on its bonnet.
Lahore Protests PTI
Once detained, protesters were released after protests along Mall Road. Malik Ahmad Bhachar claimed that Malik Usman and other workers had been arrested at Burki police station. Meanwhile, Farrukh Javed Moon arranged a bike rally from Barkat Market to Jail Road, whose lead was taken by Hammad Azhar, who said, “The Form 47 government only has a few days,” as he headed back.
In another incident, Amir Mughal, President of PTI Islamabad, was arrested during the D-Chowk rally. PTI leader Pir Tariq Qayyum Shah Khagga, a candidate for PP-197, was detained by police in Sahiwal and moved to the Kalyana police station. The police also locked Mehr Moin Chishti’s dera, and other leaders hid. In another incident in Sahiwal, PTI leader Chaudhry Asif, along with five workers, were arrested during an Independence Day rally while an FIR against 40 persons unidentified was lodged. However, the case was dismissed by the court, and the detained workers were released.
Massive Arrests and Crackdown
In another incident, a rally led by PTI West Region Punjab Vice President Asif Ali from Mudhali Road to Sarwar Chowk ended with arrests of Asif Ali, Shehbaz Khan, Shaukat Ali, Rizwan Shah, and Syed Shakir Shirazi by the police at Farid Town..
