WITH the PTI determined to march on the capital on Sept 27, a legal challenge to the planned protest has been lodged in the Islamabad High Court. The petitioner — ostensibly an Islamabad trader — fears disruption of routine life and business activities because of the protest.
While hearing the petition on Tuesday, the IHC formed a larger bench to hear the “sensitive” case, with the next hearing scheduled for tomorrow. Clearly, there is unease within the corridors of power regarding the PTI’s planned power show, which the party says is being organised for the “supremacy of the Constitution” and to demand the release of its founder Imran Khan.
The government’s concern was on full display in Karachi on Sunday, when large parts of the city’s road network were shut down on the day KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi was due to hold a rally at the Quaid’s mausoleum. Though the Sindh authorities claimed the shutdowns had nothing to do with the PTI’s planned activities and were carried out due to ‘security’ reasons, major thoroughfares had been blocked off on the day Mr Khan’s party was to stage its rally in the city.
The state believes that letting the PTI go ahead with the Islamabad rally could result in violence. These apprehensions are not without basis. After all, the November 2024 protest in the capital resulted in a deadly showdown between the party and the state. Yet there are two distinct issues that must be kept in mind.
