Right to protest doesn't mean violation of law: Malik Ahmed Khan
Pakistan
Government must exercise its legitimate powers to halt violations
LAHORE (Dunya News) - Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Ahmed Khan asserted that the right to protest was never allowed to undermine citizens’ rights, referring to the PTI protest call at D-Chowk on October 15 amid SCO Summit in Islamabad.
He said it’s time for all quarters of society to stay united by forgetting personal and political interests.
He berated PTI for creating anarchy which it did in the past as well during the visit of the Chinese president in 2014 and impacted CPEC.
He said he asked the opposition leader what would be the conditions of the protest or if it would be similar to the May 9 riots.
He recalled the PTI attacks on the state institutions, including Radio Pakistan Peshawar, military installations and martyrs’ status, and raised questions on the credibility of the protests asking was it a peaceful protest.
Law of the land doesn’t allow the violation of law for the protest. The protest hindered economic activities, and affected public lives, the Punjab Assembly speaker insisted.
He demanded the government to halt violations exercising its legitimate powers.
It is pertinent to note that Pakistan is hosting Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Heads of Government Summit on October 15 to 16 where officials of various countries would
PTI has called for a protest on the very same day of SCO Summit and decided to cancel it on the condition of meeting and release of PTI founder Imran khan.
However, some leaders of the PTI had suggested cancelling the protest in the interests of Pakistan and all political parties have urged the PTI to cancel the protest.
