PTI leader Usman Dar and workers have been detained as police storm Sialkot rally venue.
Late Friday night, police in Sialkot raided a public gathering of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and arrested several party members, including the party’s senior leader, Usman Dar.
Reports say that a large group of police arrived at the site, beat and fired tear gas at PTI workers who were setting up for the party’s meeting, which was supposed to happen today (May 14, 2022) but for which, according to the local government, permission had not been given.
The people who worked at the party fought against the police as they stood in front of the equipment that was sent to take away the chairs, stage, and other things set up for the event.
The administration said that they didn’t give permission because some people in the Christian community didn’t want the gathering to happen on a piece of land that they said belonged to the church.
Usman Dar, the leader of the PTI, told the media that the party had been given permission to hold the event eight days ago. “But just yesterday, the authorities took away the permission,” he said, adding that former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan would still come to Sialkot today to speak at the rally no matter what.
As PTI leader Usman Dar and workers detained as police storm Sialkot rally venue, in a separate event, Imran Khan, the leader of the PTI and a former prime minister, called a meeting of party leaders to talk about the situation in Sialkot.
Shehbaz Gill says that the police attack was wrong.
Shehbaz Gill, the leader of the PTI, said that the police action in Sialkot late Friday night was an act of intimidation by the thugs of the “imported government.”
On Twitter, he said that holding public meetings was a basic right of party workers that no one could take away.
He went on to say that the “imported government,” whose days were numbered, was using such harsh methods because it was nervous about how popular PTI was getting. “The police operation in Sialkot shows how worried people are,” he said.
