Curated By: Sheen Kachroo
Last Updated: November 25, 2023, 23:53 IST
Section 144 of Pakistan’s constitution prohibits gatherings of more than five people. (Representative Image: AFP)
The quarrel snowballed in the Sahibabad area of Upper Dir district, where Imran Khan’s party workers gathered to attend a convention. However, the district administration stopped party workers citing Section 144
Members of former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) clashed with police on Saturday when the cops stopped the workers from reaching the party meeting venue citing prohibitory orders under Section 144.
Violence erupted through Dir Bala district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) when the two clashed, reported ARY News.
The quarrel snowballed in the Sahibabad area of Upper Dir district, where Imran Khan’s party workers gathered to attend a convention. However, the district administration stopped the party workers citing Section 144.
Section 144 of Pakistan’s constitution prohibits gatherings of more than five people.
The imposition of the section resulted in blocked roads at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Chukiatan town leading to the convention venue for the attendees.
Anguished over the blockade, PTI workers pelted stones at the law enforcement officers, reported ARY News. The confrontation also caused injuries to the involved members with a PTI worker and a policeman sustaining bullet injuries and were being shifted to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Taking to microblogging site, X, PTI’s secretary general, Omar Ayub Khan alleged that police were directly firing on the workers.
اپر دیر، چکیاتن کے مقام پر تحریک انصاف کے ورکر کنونشن میں شرکت کیلئے جانے والے نہتے کارکنان پر پولیس کی سیدھی فائرنگ. کہاں ے الیکشن کمیشن کی ‘لیول پلینگ فیلڈ ‘؟؟؟ الیکشن کمیشن ابھی سے بتا دے کہ وہ صرف دھندلی ذدہ الیکشن کرنے کی تیاری میں مصروف ے کیا؟ ۔ عوام ایسے الیکشن کو رد کر… pic.twitter.com/wLbwDFv1Tn— Omar Ayub Khan (@OmarAyubKhan) November 25, 2023
Khan questioned the level playing field of the Election Commission.
A day prior, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had requested the caretaker government led by Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar to ensure an equal level playing field for all political parties in preparation for the upcoming general election 2024.
In a correspondence, the Additional Director General of the ECP urged the main secretary of the acting prime minister and all provincial chief secretaries to respond to the grievances expressed by a political groups concerning the alleged deficiency of just and equal opportunities.
The leaders of the party demanded equal opportunity for election campaigns and an end to discrimination.
The letter also stated that the political party leaders requested an end to government nondiscrimination and an equal playing field by enabling them to run the election campaign, reported ARY News.
