Police on Monday arrested Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan and lawmaker Sher Afzal Marwat outside Parliament House. The arrests are linked to alleged violations of the newly enacted Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Bill, 2024, following PTI’s Sunday power show in Islamabad. More arrests are expected as the crackdown on PTI leadership continues.
Islamabad police stated that PTI leaders Omar Ayub Khan and Zartaj Gul Wazir are also slated for arrest. In preparation, heavy police contingents were deployed outside Parliament, and 21 key entry points into Islamabad’s Red Zone were blocked, including routes from D-Chowk, Nadra Chowk, Serena, and Marriott, except for Margala Road. The arrests came after police cited intelligence of a medium-level terrorism threat during the rally.
Sources suggest other PTI leaders, including Hammad Azhar, Kanwal Shauzab, Naeem Haider Panjutha, Amir Mughal, and Khalid Khursheed, are also likely to be arrested. Additionally, cases were registered at Noon Village and Sangjani police stations against these individuals under the new public assembly law. Local PTI leaders, including Seemabia Tahir and Raja Basharat, were also named in the cases.
The Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Bill, 2024, was passed by the Senate and National Assembly just days before the PTI rally, amidst protests from opposition parties. The law, signed by President Asif Ali Zardari, increases the powers of Islamabad’s district magistrates and police to regulate public assemblies, proposing penalties of up to three years in prison and unspecified fines for members of “unlawful assemblies.” Repeat offenders could face up to 10 years in prison.
The law allows district magistrates to impose bans on public gatherings for specified periods, which may be extended if necessary. The bill also gives police the authority to disperse assemblies that could disturb public peace, with members of such gatherings required to comply with dispersal orders.
An FIR filed by the police noted that PTI workers attacked officers with batons and pelted them with stones when police tried to prevent the rally from violating its designated route. The Islamabad police confirmed that the crackdown on PTI leaders is based on their alleged non-compliance with the new law during Sunday’s gathering.
Amid the ongoing crackdown, Advisor to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister on Information, Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, stated that Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur has not been in contact since 6 pm on Monday. PTI workers from Punjab had been instructed to travel individually to avoid clashes with law enforcement.