Pakistan SC allows Imran Khan to hold peaceful protest: Key points

NEW DELHI: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's call for long march demanding fresh elections led to all roads leading into the country's capital Islamabad being blocked.

Since being removed from power through a no-confidence vote last month, Khan has heaped pressure on the country's fragile new coalition government by staging mass rallies across the country.

Meanwhile, the coalition government headed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has pledged to stop

Khan

's supporters.

Here are the latest developments:

Imran Khan enters Punjab

"We have entered Punjab and insha'Allah we will move towards Islamabad. No tactic of repression and fascism by this imported government can frighten us nor stop our march," Khan said on Twitter.


Pak SC restrains govt from arresting

Imran

Khan, allows PTI to hold rally in H-9 ground of Islamabad
Pakistan Supreme Court restrained the present government from arresting Imran Khan and allowed PTI to hold a sit-in protest at the H-9 ground area of Islamabad.

The court order came after PTI assured to hold a peaceful protest and there would not be any damage to public and private properties, reported Dawn newspaper.

A three-member bench headed by Pakistan Justice Ijazul Ahsan, and comprising Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Sayyed Mazhar Ali Akbar Naqvi, issued the orders after hearing the petition filed by Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA) President Mohammad Shoaib Shaheen a day earlier, seeking the removal of blockades in the capital ahead of the PTI's march.

Imran Khan leads rally in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa stronghold
Imran Khan led a convoy from his party’s provincial stronghold of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Rallies have started across Pakistan’s major cities and are all expected to converge at Islamabad later in the day.


Protesters continue to have violent confrontations with the security forces as they push their way through the containers and blockades to reach Islamabad.

Pakistan police fire teargas, baton-charge Imran's supporters
Pakistani police fired teargas and baton-charged supporters of Imran Khan on to stop them from reaching Islamabad.

"We are getting reports that the police have baton-charged and fired teargas shells to break the protesters," Amjad Malik, an interior ministry official, told Reuters.

He said no one was seriously injured in the clashes, which were reported mostly in Punjab province, and that the police had also rounded up dozens of the activists.

Pakistan government cracks down on supporters of PTI participating in protest march
Entry and exit points on key highways that lead to the capital were blocked by police around the nearest main cities of Peshawar, Lahore, and Multan.

The government also imposed Section 144 to ban big gatherings in Lahore, the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad and Karachi, as well as other major cities.

Punjab Home Secretary Syed Ali Murtaza told the media that paramilitary Rangers were called to help police to keep peace in the largest province, which would be a key to mobilize sizable protestors.

More than 4,000 police personnel from other districts of Punjab have been called to Islamabad.

Barricades were erected around Lahore and the twin cities to stop vehicles from entering or going out, bringing life and traffic to a standstill.

PTI members arrested
The police has reportedly arrested key members of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and cut off Islamabad under the direction of the Shehbaz Sharif government.

The government rounded up over 1,000 PTI leaders and workers in a crackdown designed to derail the party's plans for a massive power show in Islamabad.

Maryan Nawaz claims weapons recovered from PTI leaders
Pakistan Muslim League's (Nawaz) leader Maryam Nawaz Sharif claimed that the Punjab Police has recovered a large number of weapons from the PTI leaders.

"Weapons recovered by Punjab Lahore police from vehicles of PTI Lahore office bearers Zubair Niazi and Bajash Niazi. Case registered. This is the ugly face of the so-called Long March. These are the intentions," tweeted the PML-N leader.

The Punjab government said that the weapons were recovered from the vehicles of the office bearers of the PTI, reported Dawn newspaper. The weapons were retrieved the day when the Imran Khan-led PTI launched its march. More senior leaders of the PTI were also rounded up.

Pakistan's SC tells authorities: Provide PTI alternate site for 'Azadi March'
Pakistan's Supreme Court has directed the authorities to provide an alternate place to the supporters of ousted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party for their "Azadi March" protest so that they can demonstrate and then go home.

A three-member bench headed by Justice Ahsan, and comprising Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi made the directions while hearing a petition filed on Tuesday by Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA) President Mohammad Shoaib Shaheen.

The petitioner asked the court to intervene to remove blockades placed in the capital to derail the protest march called by ousted prime minister Imran Khan.

(With agency inputs)
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