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The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was prohibited by the Lahore High Court (LHC) from staging a rally this Sunday at Iqbal Park (Minar-e-Pakistan) and was urged to allow people to go about their daily lives instead, reported Geo News.
Despite "security threats," the party intended to stage a "historic" public gathering at Lahore's Minar-e-Pakistan on March 19. Imran Khan, the PTI chairman, was scheduled to lead it. A day earlier, PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry filed a high court petition in an effort to halt the police operation in the vicinity of Zaman Park. In accordance with court orders, the police intervened to detain Khan in the Toshakhana case. A report published in Geo News read, the high court had, during an initial hearing, ordered police to halt the operation until 10 am today, which helped to defuse the conflict at the former prime minister's home, which had devolved into a battleground. Nevertheless, when the hearing was resumed today by Judge Tariq Saleem Sheikh, he pointed out that neither the LHC nor the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had intervened to prevent the police from carrying out the arrest warrants for the ousted prime minister. The court stated in the later-issued judgement that the "order imposed yesterday" should remain in effect until the next hearing, which means that the operation of Zaman Park has been suspended until tomorrow. In an effort to arrest Imran Khan, who was ousted as prime minister in April, PTI workers and law enforcement engaged in a nearly 24-hour-long battle. In the process, as law enforcement officers used tear gas and party supporters resorted to tossing Molotov bombs, scores of people--mostly police officers--were hurt. Following Khan's resignation from the government in a legislative vote at the beginning of the year, legal action was taken against him. Since then, he has led protests across the country calling for an early election. During one of these rallies, he was shot and injured, Geo News reported. (ANI)
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