LAHORE: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has blamed the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) led Punjab government for imposing restrictions on its February 5 rally at Mochi gate.
PPP Punjab President Qamar Zaman Kaira on Wednesday said the Lahore administration has issued a conditional no-objection certificate (NOC) to the PPP for holding the public rally. The NOC contains certain restrictions including ones that bar the PPP from making any statements against state institutions including the army and the judiciary at the rally.
“Former PM Nawaz Sharif is accusing the judiciary and hurling abuses at it. He is threatening to dismember Pakistan and no one is stopping him. But the Punjab government is imposing restrictions on the PPP rally. Has Pakistan become a fiefdom of the Sharif family where they do what they want? Is there no one to question them? If PPP says something against the judiciary, it is contempt of court,” said Kaira.
“The Sharif brothers should remember that they in our tenure used to make calls in a bid to get decisions of their choice from the courts. But we never called the judiciary kangaroo courts,” he added.
Kaira also urged the chief justice of Pakistan to take a suo motu notice of Nawaz Sharif’s anti-judiciary tirade.
He said that Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif is dreaming to become the next premier, but Nawaz Sharif prefers Maryam Nawaz at public rallies instead of Shehbaz. He claimed that the PML-N is facing an internal crisis and there is no unity among its ranks.
PPP Punjab Secretary General Chaudhry Manzoor also lashed at the Punjab government for imposing restrictions on the February 5 rally. He said that it is beyond one’s understanding that why did the government impose restrictions. He said the Sharif brothers consider Punjab as their personal property and they have no regard for other parties.
It may be noted that the PPP announced to hold a public meeting on Kashmir Day in Lahore to express solidarity with the oppressed of the Indian occupied Kashmir and to show the party’s political strength in Punjab. PPP leader and former president Asif Ali Zardari has directed the party leadership in Punjab to make arrangements for the public meeting at the historical Mochi gate, which comes following the flop show at the joint opposition protest led by Pakistan Awami Tehreek on January 17.
Central leaders of the PPP would also address the rally on February 5.
