Arrest warrants issued for five PTI leaders as party prepares for Lahore rally

PTI is scheduled to hold a rally in Lahore's Kahna area on Saturday 3 pm

Lahore Deputy Commissioner (DC) Syed Musa Raza on Saturday issued arrest warrants for five PTI leaders, including Vice President of Lahore PTI Akmal Khan Bari, as the party prepares for a  show of force in Kahna. 

According to Dawn report, PTI is scheduled to hold a rally in Lahore's Kahna area on Saturday 3 pm (September 21). But there was a deadlock between the PTI and the Punjab government over the permission to hold the rally. However, after a long discussion, the deadlock ended last Friday (September 20) night. The government gave permission to hold the rally on 43 conditions.

The party had earlier sought permission to hold its much-awaited rally at the iconic Greater Iqbal Park, where Minari Pakistan is located. However, it was allotted to Kahna on the Lahore Ring Road. 

According to the DC order issued on Satarday, the five PTI leaders should be detained for 30 days from the arrest date under Section 3(1) of the Punjab Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance. 

The DC order says the PTI leaders Shazaib Khan, Akhtar Munna, Mazhar Shah, Raja Shafiq and Bari are to be arrested who are "threatening public safety and MPO. They are creating problems for  law enforcement agencies (LEAs) and inciting the public through their offensive speeches".

On Friday, the former National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, speaking at a public rally in Swabi's Gul Dehri area, said  PTI workers and leaders were fully prepared for another "important" public rally "for the supremacy of the Constitution". 

43 conditions to hold the rally 

The Punjab government has reportedly imposed "43 conditions", including a public apology from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur for his widely condemned speech at a PTI rally in Islamabad  on September 8. 

While the PTI team has said it refuses to guarantee an apology, Insaf Lawyers Forum chairman Ishtiaq Ahmad Khan said Gandapur would "clarify his position during his speech at the Power Show in Lahore". Another condition is that the rally will be held between 3 pm and 6 pm. 

However, Ishtiaq Ahmad said the PTI team did not agree to this and the deputy chief secretary also agreed that the government would not enforce this condition. 

An official from the Chief Minister's Office told Dawn that the government had formally decided to tolerate the PTI's use of force but would make "covert" efforts to reduce the number of participants from outside Lahore. 

The approval letter, which contains 43 conditions, asked the organizers to ensure security of the stage, male section, female section, emergency exits, preventive and containment measures for mass panic and adequate parking facilities by hiring private security personnel and volunteers. 

One of the restrictions was that no large gatherings from outside  the city that would disrupt Lahore life would be allowed. It was also stipulated that no anti-national or anti-system slogans or statements should be made during the show of power. 

Another condition was that  those who were accused of hate speech in the previous Islamabad rally should  be barred from attending or standing on stage. It was also said that convicted criminals would not attend the public rally. 

Similarly, no Afghan flag would be allowed to be hoisted and no "Afghan wage workers" would be allowed to be brought to the rally. Another condition was that the organizers would be held responsible in case of any untoward incident. 

The rally has been a bone of contention since July, when the PTI first sought permission for a public rally. The Punjab government finally allowed the PTI rally after a three-judge bench of the Lahore High Court directed DC Raza to take a decision on the PTI's application by 5 pm yesterday.