RAWALPINDI: PTI supporters protesting the February 8 election results in Rawalpindi were arrested by police on Sunday after the latter sealed routes leading up to the entrance of the district election com-mission’s office. A substantial number of police officers were deployed in the area. The closure of the district office also impacted the road leading to the press club, resulting in journalists encountering challenges in gaining access to the press club.
Following the closure of the ECP office, the PTI supporters gathered near Murree Road. The demon-strators expressed support in favor of party’s incarcerated founding chairman Imran Khan.
All police stations have been directed to take action against protests taking place within their respec-tive jurisdictions. The decision emphasises strict actions against any gathering or attempt to organise a rally within the jurisdiction of a police station.
Earlier today, PTI chairman Barrister Gohar stressed on peaceful nationwide protests against returning officers (ROs) on Sunday. He emphasised that the nation had complete trust in founding chariman Im-ran Khan’s vision of ‘’ghulami na Manzoor” (slavery unacceptable)” in the aftermath of the February 8 elections.
Despite the challenges faced on February 8, the public decisively demonstrated a clear and transpar-ent mandate in favour of the PTI, he said. Accusing the ROs of “attempting to usurp their mandate once again”, Gohar condemned these “unacceptable attempts to undermine democracy through tampering with election results”.
He warned that any such effort would be detrimental to the country and unacceptable to the people, “who will not tolerate any violation of their voting rights.” The PTI leader stressed the importance of using “constitutional, democratic, and political rights for the fundamental purpose of protecting the people’s mandate”.
Asserting that gaining a clear majority in the Centre, Punjab, and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was the “con-stitutional and democratic right of the PTI”, Barrister Gohar concluded by stating that “preserving com-plete respect for the people’s mandate is in the best interest of Pakistan and should be maintained under all circumstances”. –Agencies
