Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) top leaders, including PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz, were booked on Tuesday for causing irreparable damage to a national asset after its Minar-e-Pakistan rally in Lahore. The decision by a seemingly fearful Imran Khan-led PTI government comes after the 11-party Opposition alliance set January 31 deadline for the Prime Minister to step down or face a long march on Islamabad.
According to Geo News, PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz and PML-N leaders Khawaja Saad Rafique, Ahsan Iqbal and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi have been named in the case. Other Opposition leaders, including Rana Sanaullah and Marriyum Aurangzeb, have also been named.
The FIR states that the 11-party alliance caused “irreparable damage” to the sanctity of a national heritage [Minar-e-Pakistan] that includes 15 counts of violations. “The PDM administration broke the gate and fences of the Greater Iqbal Park to enter,” the FIR read. It was further reported that a day earlier, two cases were registered “against the PDM’s Lahore jalsa for forcibly entering the Greater Iqbal Park in Lahore and holding a public rally.” Geo News further reported adding that the FIR stated that “the PDM leadership and workers broke locks and forcibly entered the park to make arrangements for a public gathering.”
The opposition alliance held its final anti-government rally in Lahore on Sunday despite a ban on the gathering of more than 300 people owing to an increase in COVID-19 cases across the country. Meanwhile, the Lahore police have launched a crackdown on service providers for the event. The police high-ups assigned divisional SPs to identify and arrest the people who looked after seating and other arrangements for the PDM public gathering, and take legal action against those responsible for helping to organise the rally, Dawn reported.
