PDM Mardan rally: Cases registered against local leaders for holding gathering without permission

• PDM’s local leaders booked for organising Mardan rally
• Earlier this month, cases were registered against PDM top leadership for breaking the locks of the Greater Iqbal Park gate and forcibly entering to hold a rally in Lahore
• No arrests have been made

MARDAN: Several local leaders of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) were booked Wednesday for holding the alliance's Mardan rally without permission.

According to sources, the City police station registered cases against PML-N's Haji Khan Akbar, JUI-F Mardan General Secretary Maulana Amanat Shah Haqqani, former deputy speaker Ikramullah Shahid, Qaumi Watan Party District Chairperson Mujeebur Rahman and Awami National Party's Latif ur Rahman, Javed Yousafzai and others.

Police said the Opposition party leaders held a rally in Mardan under the name of PDM on December 23 within the limits of the City police station without taking permission from the district administration.

Read more about PDM's rally in Mardan

The Mardan deputy commissioner had warned that action will be taken against the organisers for violating the ban on holding public rallies.

The second wave of the coronavirus pandemic was cited as the reason for the ban as the public meetings could serve as a spread of the virus.

No arrests, however, have been made and it is unclear if anyone will be arrested. 

Cases were also registered against the local office-bearers of the PDM component parties in Peshawar in November for organising a public rally, but no arrests were made.

The PDM is an alliance of 11 opposition parties.

Cases registered for forced entry into Greater Iqbal Park

Earlier this month, two cases were registered for forcibly entering the Greater Iqbal Park in Lahore and holding a public rally.

Both cases were registered at the Larri Adda police station on the complaint of security staff. One of them was registered on the complaint of Zeeshan Haider Naqvi and the other on the complaint of supervisor Muhammad Yousuf.

Read more: After Lahore jalsa, PDM top leadership meets at Raiwind to decide next steps

In the FIR, it is stated that PDM leadership and workers broke locks and forcibly entered the park to make arrangements for a public gathering.