PTI gets permission for July 2 rally

Opposition party had agreeed to 39 conditions for staging power show in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Friday received permission from the Islamabad district magistrate’s office to hold a rally in the federal capital on July 2.

According to a notification from the office, the former ruling party was given “permission to use the venue” of Parade ground by “concerned quarters”.

The notification was also sent to the chief commissioner of Islamabad, the IGP and deputy IGP Islamabad, senior superintendents of police for traffic and operations and the assistant commissioner of the industrial area.

Earlier, the PTI had given an undertaking to the district administration of Islamabad and agreed to 39 conditions for holding a rally on July 2.

PTI Islamabad chapter president of the central secretariat Ali Nawaz Awan signed the undertaking – code of conduct – before Islamabad’s deputy commissioner taking full responsibility for any untoward incident and agreeing to be held responsible in case of violation of the agreement.

However, the no-objection certificate (NOC) for using Parade Groud was subject to the permission of “Staff Duties Directorate, GHQ [General Headquarters], Rawalpindi,” according to the undertaking.

Through the code of conduct, the party has agreed that the gathering shall not disturb or disrupt the fundamental rights of citizens, including the right to freedom of movement, trade and business, and education, and has assured that it will not block any road – Expressway, Murree Road or service roads.

Read PTI approaches SC for holding 'peaceful protest' in Islamabad

The former ruling party agreed that the gathering shall end at 12 midnight, stating that it will be the organiser’s duty to ensure the dispersal after the event ends.

It nodded that the participants shall not indulge in violence or clashes. Under the agreement, the organisers are bound to ensure that the participants are dispersed peacefully, and they do not spend the night or subsequent nights at the Parade ground

The PTI also agreed that the participants shall not enter the Red Zone of Islamabad; organisers are responsible for the internal security arrangements of the participants and providing the list of the participants to the local police in advance; and that they will be responsible for any damage caused to the public or private property.

In the code, it signed a condition that no anti-state, religious, and anti-national slogans shall be made; effigy or flag of any party shall not be burnt; weapons would not be allowed, and the law enforcers can search any vehicle or person coming to attend the gathering.

The undertaking also stated that the organisers will respect the fundamental human rights of other stakeholders and the general public.

Separately, PTI Central Secretary General Asad Umar has urged the people to come out of their houses on July 2 to send a strong message that Pakistan was no longer a country where governments were being changed by conspiring behind closed doors.

Umar, in his video message on Thursday, urged the people of the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi to ensure their participation in the Parade Ground rally on Saturday evening. He said that the people of the twin cities, together with PTI Chairman Imran Khan, should give a clear and unequivocal message that it was a changed Pakistan.