Maryam, Capt Safdar among other PML-N leaders booked in another case

Case registered for violating Punjab sound system act, public order maintenance ordinance en route Gujranwala rally

LAHORE:

Maryam Nawaz, Capt (retd) Safdar Awan and other Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) leaders were booked on Tuesday for violating provincial laws on the day of the Gujranwala rally, in a case registered at the Shahdara police station.

The PML-N leaders have been booked for violating the Punjab Sound Systems (Regulation) Act 2015 and Punjab Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, 1960.

The FIR states that the Shahdara Chowk was blocked by containers without the concerned authorities' permission, that affected the flow of traffic resulting in citizens being stranded on the road for hours.

Besides PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz and Captain (retd) Safdar, Malik Riaz, Samiullah Khan, Malik Pervez, Ali Pervez Malik have been nominated in the FIR. The case has also been registered against Bilal Yasin, Samiullah Khan, Saif-ul-Muluk Khokhar and some 2,000 to 2,200 unidentified people.

The FIR further states, in what appears to be a reference to Maryam Nawaz's address to party supporters at the chowk, that a public gathering was addressed without the government's permission, wherein provocative speeches were done against the government and the state's institutions.

 

The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) set off its countrywide protest campaign against the incumbent government by holding a maiden power show in Gujranwala on October 16, which the opposition termed a “decisive referendum against the incompetent” rulers.

In their addresses, the heads of the PDM's constituent parties fired a broadside against the government and particularly made Prime Minister Imran Khan the target of their trenchant criticism, accusing him of failure in fulfilling the promises he made to the people before the 2018 elections.

The PDM, comprising around a dozen opposition parties on a joint platform to get rid of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, was formed last month and has planned six big rallies across the country until December to force the government to call fresh elections.