Hours after security officials briefly booked senior leadership of Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) from Lahore, the PTM has claimed authorities have flooded the venue with drainage effluent ahead of the rally which is scheduled to be held at 4:00pm Sunday.
The development happened early on Sunday morning when organisers arriving at Mochi Gate found the ground in front of the stage filled with filthy water. Ismat Shehjahan, the left front leader, shared pictures of the flooding on social media.
Earlier on Saturday, a notification was issued by the government that barred the PTM from holding the rally at Mochi Gate. However, later in the day, the district admin agreed to provide security to the gathering, however, it refused to retract the notification, Pakistan Today had learnt.
“They have tried all sorts of tactics. They denied permission at the last hour and then arrested our people and then releasing them just to send a message. But we will not be perturbed by any of this and will work even harder to make this rally a reality” said PTM leader Mohsin Dawar speaking to Pakistan Today.
Meanwhile, local administration officials have said that they have nothing to do with the flooding of the demonstration point, and even denied any knowledge of thus happening.
Mohsin Dawar has also said that they have not contacted any administration official because they know it will be to no avail.
“We are working towards clearing the area on our own through volunteer work, and we will be ready for the rally in the afternoon” he said.