Two days since the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) postponed a rally in Islamabad, conflicting claims of the reasons behind the decision have evoked confusion over the need for its abruptness.
Early on Thursday, the PTI postponed a rally in Islamabad scheduled for the same day until Sept. 8 despite its senior leadership vowing overnight that the rally would proceed come what may. PTI leaders Azam Swati and Gohar Ali Khan announced the decision after meeting party founder Imran Khan at Adiala Jail on Thursday morning, surprising even the party’s leadership, who continued to claim for several hours that the rally would proceed as planned and reports of its postponement were fake.
The confusion had given rise to speculation over the reasons behind the decision, with Khan’s sister Aleema Khan alleging that the incumbent PTI leadership did not wish to see her brother freed from jail. In an audio clip that went viral on social media, she questioned who had permitted Swati to meet Khan so early in the morning, implying he was acting on the behest of the security establishment.
A key reason for the persisting back-and-forth is the anger expressed by PTI supporters in the aftermath of the postponement, especially as the party has similarly cancelled previously planned rallies multiple times, citing “lack of permission” from authorities.
Claiming to offer some clarity, the government’s spokesman on legal affairs, Aqeel Malik, told Geo News the federal government had formally approached Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and requested the PTI postpone its rally. He claimed Gandapur had subsequently met the PTI leadership and reviewed the security situation and had decided it would be best to convince Khan to postpone the event until a later date.
Rebutting his claims, KP spokesman Muhammad Ali Saif claimed the federal government had not contacted Gandapur to seek any postponement of the rally. Claiming no institutions had facilitated the PTI leadership’s early morning meeting with Khan, he alleged the PMLN leader’s statement was an attempt to demoralize PTI workers. “The decision to postpone the gathering was taken by Imran Khan in personal capacity,” he said.
Khan’s version
In an informal interaction with journalists at Adiala Jail during a hearing into the £190 million case, Khan offered his own version of what prompted his decision to delay the rally. He claimed that when he met Swati, the latter informed him of protests planned by various religious parties in Islamabad. To a question on whether Swati had conveyed him any information from the government, Khan claimed he had no engagements with the “stolen mandate” government.
Claiming the government evoked the May 9 riots whenever it thought he was reviving ties with the establishment, he said the primary aim behind postponing the Aug. 22 rally was to avoid another May 9-esque incident. Nonetheless, he maintained, the PTI would stage its Islamabad rally on Sept. 8 no matter the hurdles placed in its path. He said he had also instructed his party to determine a date to protest against the Supreme Court’s delay in issuing the detailed verdict in the reserved seats case.