Only courts, not PTI rallies, can secure Imran Khan's freedom: Punjab minister

LAHORE: Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari claimed on Sunday that incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder "Imran Khan would not come out of jail via power shows" as his party is holding a public gathering in Islamabad to mount pressure on the government for his release.

The major opposition party is set to hold a public rally in Sangjani, a locality of the federal capital, today, with convoys of loyalists led by senior PTI leaders arriving from various cities across the country.

"Today, they [PTI] are going to stage a drama in Islamabad," said Bokhari in a press conference, slamming the Imran-founded party's power show in the federal capital.

She added that such public gatherings and rallies would do nothing to release the incarcerated ex-premier.

She said that the PTI founder could only be released from jail via courts after facing cases against him. "There is neither an NRO for him nor will these power shows change anything," she added.

The provincial minister said that the government was not afraid of political events, however, "we are concerned about their [PTI] past activities."

She was referring to the violent protests that erupted after the ex-premier’s arrest on May 9 last year in which government and military installations were attacked by protesters.

She alleged that the former ruling party was “planted to create disturbance in Pakistan”.

Bokhari said that no one would be allowed to disturb the law and order situation at any cost.

Prior to the PTI power show, the federal government passed the "Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Bill, 2024", aimed at regulating public gatherings. President Asif Ali Zardari signed the bill into law.

The new law empowers the district magistrate to regulate and ban public assemblies in the federal capital, proposing a punishment of up to three years or/and an unspecified fine to the members of an "unlawful assembly".

It also proposed that repeat offenders will be liable to imprisonment for a term that may extend to 10 years.

To a question related to the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) supremo, the politico said that she would not respond to Maulana Fazlur Rehman's criticism against the coalition government as he was a senior politician.

However, she stressed that the cleric's remarks on the floor of the National Assembly were important in that he said that the country could not bear the dire consequences of toppling the incumbent government.

'Fake videos to hide low attendance'

Bokhari alleged that the former ruling party "is spreading fake videos and photos to hide low attendance at the federal capital's rally".

"[Islamabad] public gathering is being advertised by the party's leaders via fake videos and photos," Bokhari said while speaking to Geo News.

She said that the PTI has failed to gather people for its public gathering while its Punjab leadership refused to bring people to the political event.

"[Former president] Arif Alvi had shared a video of the August 14 event which was actually from Kashmir. Even a person like Alvi has no option other than sharing old videos to show a large participation in the forthcoming rally. However, the former president deleted these videos [from his social media account]."

She further claimed that Shahbaz Gill and other YouTubers belonging to the PTI were also spreading fake videos in desperate attempts for face-saving.

He said that the local administration issued a no objection certificate (NOC) to the PTI for its public gathering and it is their turn to gather people for it.

Bokhari alleged that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government's resources were being used to bring people to the party's Islamabad event.

"[KP Chief Minister] Ali Amin Gandapur had distributed Rs5,000 to the PTI workers to attend a power show and we don’t know what is today's rate?"

She was pointing towards a video that went viral last month which showed CM Gandapur distributing Rs5,000 notes among PTI workers who reached the federal capital for the August 22 rally before it was abruptly cancelled.

The top leadership of the opposition party had faced criticism from party leaders and workers for not being able to hold the public gathering in Islamabad after it called off its previous rally and rescheduled it for September 8 after the local administration revoked the NOC citing security concerns.

PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan had said the rally was deferred till September 8 following the instruction of the PTI founder.