Fearful of Opposition, Imran Khan govt lodges FIR against PML-N, PDM leaders post Lahore rally
Dec 15, 2020
Islamabad [Pakistan], December 15 : Fearful of the increasing popularity of the Pakistan Democratic Movement, the Imran Khan government has registered a case against the central leadership of the PDM for causing irreparable damage to a national asset after the Minar-e-Pakistan jalsa on Sunday.
PDM has been holding rallies to oust the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government by January 31.
According to Geo News, PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz and PML-N leaders Khawaja Saad Rafique, Ahsan Iqbal and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi have been named in the case. Other Opposition leaders, including Rana Sanaullah and Marriyum Aurangzeb, have also been named.
This comes after the PDM demanded that the federal government step down by January 31. The FIR states that the 11-party alliance caused "irreparable damage" to the sanctity of a national heritage [Minar-e-Pakistan] that includes 15 counts of violations.
"The PDM administration broke the gate and fences of the Greater Iqbal Park to enter," the FIR read. It was further reported that a day earlier, two cases were registered for "against the PDM's Lahore jalsa for forcibly entering the Greater Iqbal Park in Lahore and holding a public rally."
Both were registered at the Larri Adda police station on the complaint of security staff, Geo News further reported adding that the FIR stated that "the PDM leadership and workers broke locks and forcibly entered the park to make arrangements for a public gathering."
In an article titled 'The military seeds of Pakistan's discontent', written by Salman Rafi Sheikh, mentioned that a 'creeping coup' has allowed Pakistan's military to control and manipulate government "without firing a shot or rolling a tank."
"Khan's facilitated "creeping coup" is becoming increasingly more apparent in the international eye...Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led regime often and readily suppresses anti-government and anti-military dissent, acting similar to previous repressive military dictatorships under the guise of democracy, Sheikh wrote.
Pakistani Muslim League (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz in her address at Minar-i-Pakistan on Sunday urged supporters to answer the call for a march to Islamabad, while Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari formally announced that PDM is now headed to the capital.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had slammed the Imran Khan government during the sixth Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) rally, saying that the country is suffering because of the "fake, incompetent and illegitimate government."
