ISLAMABAD
\nThe PTI moved the Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday to direct the federal government and other relevant authorities not to use \u201ccoercive measures or intimidating tactics\u201d, resort to violence or create hindrances for party activists and leaders who intend to participate in the party\u2019s second march on Islamabad, which they describe as an \u201cupcoming peaceful assembly\u201d.
\nThe PTI made the request in an instant plea filed in the SC today. The petition gives a detailed account of the circumstances of the party\u2019s last march on Islamabad on May 25.
\nThat day, according to Dawm.com, raucous PTI workers forced their way through shipping containers in between them and Islamabad and were met with tear gas and police batons. They even made their way to the Red Zone, after which the military was called in.
\nOn the eve of the march, the government rounded up over 1,000 PTI leaders and workers in a crackdown designed to derail the party\u2019s plans for the march.
\nSection 144 was imposed in Lahore, the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad and Karachi, as well as other major cities in the country, while the Punjab government sought the deployment of Rangers to control the law and order situation.
\nOn May 26, Imran Khan had ended prematurely after giving a six-day deadline, which ended today, to the government for announcing elections and warning of returning to capital if his demand was not met. In the petition, filed by PTI secretary general Asad Umar today, the PTI also mentioned the no-trust motion that led to Imran\u2019s ouster as the premier, stating that the party chairperson was removed from power \u201cthrough a murky and illegally orchestrated vote of no confidence\u201d. It also alluded to the \u201ctainted and illegal\u201d election of Hamza Shehbaz as the Punjab chief minister.
\nIt was in this circumstance, the petition said, that the PTI held several rallies across the country in a peaceful manner, without causing any damage to any property or person, in order to \u201cgalvanise people against this illegally orchestrated regime change\u201d.
\nMoreover, the petition added, \u201cpeople of Pakistan, in hundreds of thousands, came out (unplanned) into the street to register their protest against the illegal removal\u201d of Imran.
\nAs the culmination of these assemblies, the PTI planned a march to Islamabad on May 25, in order to protest Imran\u2019s ouster, seek \u201creal freedom\u201d, and draw the attention of incumbent government to the public sentiment.
\nThe PTI contended in the petition that the \u201cright to peacefully move, assemble, associate, speak and express are enshrined in Articles 15, 16, 17 and 19 of the Constitution\u201d.
\n\u201cIt is now well-recognised that the right to protest is included in the aforesaid rights and every citizen of Pakistan and the political party, including its workers, members, leaders and supporters, have the right to assembly and protest peacefully with regards to matters relating to the governance and policy issues of Pakistan.\u201d
\nBut contrary to this mandate of fundamental rights, the authorities, on the interior ministry\u2019s and Punjab government\u2019s directions, arrested, tortured and baton-charged protesters, tear-gassed peaceful gatherings, destroyed private property during the May 25 march, the PTI said, adding that five of the party members lost their lives in the episode.
\nIt also drew the court\u2019s attention towards officials, particularly of the Punjab government, \u201charassing, intimidating, arresting and torturing the citizens of Pakistan as well as the workers and leaders of the petitioner, who only wanted to participate in the planned protests, in the exercise of their democratic rights\u201d.
\nMoreover, the party said, the authorities installed roadblocks and containers in various cities, notably Islamabad, in a bid to prevent people from participating in the march.
\n\u201cOn the day of May 25, 2022, people were not allowed to go towards or reach Islamabad because of barbarity from the district administration and law enforcement agencies of the government of Punjab, as well as the Ministry of Interior. Access to Islamabad was totally blocked from all cities,\u201d the petition read.
\nFurthermore, raids were carried out across Pakistan, and especially in Punjab, at the houses of citizens, workers and leaders of the PTI on the eve of the march, the petition said.
\n\u201cOwing to this unlawful and mala fide exercise of state power, most of the members and supporters of the petitioner were unable to reach Islamabad … The respondents, and particularly officials of the Punjab province, as well as the Ministry of Interior, violated mandatory provisions of the Constitution and acted in a manner that amounts to state terrorism,\u201d the PTI said. It added that it may also be mentioned here that \u201cactions taken by the Punjab police were under the directions of an illegally constituted Punjab CM, who has not been properly elected under Article 130(4) of the Constitution\u201d.
\nThe PTI accused the government of \u201cusing different tactics to harass the citizens, petitioner, its leadership, workers, supporters and journalists, by using its state machinery, registering fake FIRs, and arresting people from different places through illegal use of state\u2019s law enforcement machinery\u201d since the fourth week of May, when the party made the call for \u201cpeaceful assemblies\u201d across the country.
\nThe party argued in the petition that such acts by the authorities were aimed at \u201cthwarting the public will\u201d.
\nIt termed the government\u2019s acts, as described in the petition, \u201cillegal, unconstitutional, discriminatory, a violation of the due process of law and against, inter alia, the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution\u201d.
\nThe PTI said that while it had \u201clawfully and legitimately\u201d announced another protest march culminating in Islamabad, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah had announced on the media that it would not be allowed to hold the march.
\n\u201cSuch a statement is a clear declaration of intent from the government, in violation of the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution. Similar statements have been repeated by other officials of the federal and Punjab government,\u201d the petition said, adding that the \u201cmala fide purpose of all the above tactics is to create so much fear in the public-at-large that no one dares to participate in the planned protests of the petitioner\u201d.
\nAnd \u201cif the respondents succeed in their illegal tactics, the same will destroy the spirit of the Constitution and the public\u2019s trust in our Constitution and the project of democracy\u201d, the PTI said.
\nIt underlined the court in Pakistan was the \u201cguardian and protector of fundamental rights and has a duty to enforce the same in exercise of its powers under Article 184(3) of the Constitution\u201d.
\n\u201cAs such, the issued raised in the instant petition fall squarely within the ambit of Article 184(3) of the Constitution, requiring adjudication from this honourable court,\u201d it added.
\nThe PTI outlined various provisions of the Constitution that guarantee the right to hold peaceful protests and freedom of expression and prayed the court to direct the federal government, Punjab government and other parties \u201cnot to torture or arrest or use any force or coercive measures or intimidating tactics (including, without limitation, conducting of illegal raids in their houses), against the citizens of Pakistan and the supporters, workers, members and leaders of the public who want to peacefully hold any protest or assembly announced by the petitioner\u201d.
\nIt further requested the court to direct the authorities not to \u201ccreate any hindrance or obstacle whatsoever, including blocking access to or from any place or city in any manner (inter alia by putting up containers etc.) or from restricting the movement of the people in any manner and through any means\u201d.
\nMoreover, the authorities should be directed not to use \u201cviolence, including force or any strong-arm tactics against any citizen, supporter, worker, member or leader of the petitioner who chooses to participate in the upcoming peaceful assembly\u201d, the PTI appealed to the court.
\nBesides making this prayer, the PTI said, it had approached the court for a \u201cdefinite determination\u201d on a set of questions of public importance, with reference to the enforcement of fundamental rights.
\nWhether freedom of movement and the right to peaceful protest and procession are fundamental rights of all citizens of Pakistan under the Constitution?
\nWhether constitutional rights, enshrined in Articles 4, 5, 8, 9, 10,14, 15, 16, 17, 19, and 25 of the Constitution, can be unreasonably curtailed by executive authorities through the use of disproportionate and unlawful force on peaceful citizenry?
\nWhether the fundamental rights, enshrined in Articles 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19 and 25 of the Constitution must be respected and protected from unconstitutional and illegal curtailment by the governmental authorities?
\nWhether the state and governmental agencies of Pakistan can unlawfully deprive citizens of their liberty, guaranteed under Article 9 and 10 of the Constitution, by arresting individuals who are participating in or intend to participate in a peaceful protest for the attainment of their democratic rights?
\nWhether the governmental agencies can, without any cause or reason, browbeat, intimidate, or physically harm individuals and groups who gather for a peaceful procession, thus violating their inviolable dignity and privacy of home, as guaranteed under Article 14 of the Constitution?
\nWhether the citizens of Pakistan have the right to peacefully enter, move around and remain in various territories of Pakistan, in accordance with Article 15 of the Constitution?
\nWhether the citizens have the right to peacefully assemble, protest and hold demonstrations, for the achievement of their democratic demands, in accordance with the letter and spirit of Article 16 of the Constitution?
\nWhether the PTI, a duly registered political party, has the fundamental right to organise, associate and conduct a nationwide political rally, in accordance with Article 17 of the Constitution, without unlawful interference by the federal and provincial government authorities?
\nWhether the arrest and detention of members of the PTI prior to or during a peacefully organised protest, amount to illegal detention and arrest, as well as a violation of its rights under Article 17 of the Constitution?
\nThe federal government, all four provincial governments and the inspector generals of police of the four provinces have been nominated as respondents in the petition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD The PTI moved the Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday to direct the federal government and other relevant authorities not to use \u201ccoercive measures or intimidating tactics\u201d, resort to violence or create hindrances for party activists and leaders who intend to participate in the party\u2019s second march on Islamabad, which they describe as an \u201cupcoming […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-263909","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n