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LAHORE: Amid fears of violence, the Punjab government, in a late-night development on Saturday, announced to impose Section 144 in Lahore for a day – Sunday – warning that the restriction could be extended if the situation “went out of control”.
Caretaker Punjab Minister for Information Amir Mir urged PTI Chairman and former Prime Minister Imran Khan not to “take the law into his own hands” during a news conference.
He stated that Section 144 was being enforced in the provincial capital and that no one would be permitted to hold a rally or a public gathering.
He also mentioned that an HBL PSL match, marathon, and cycle race were all scheduled to take place in the city on Sunday (today) and that these events would be held as planned a month ago.
Despite the fact that these events were taking place, Imran “all of a sudden” announced his political rally, according to Amir.
He cited one of the main reasons for the imposition of Section 144 as the security of the cricket teams.
He recalled that PTI had previously announced a rally even though Aurat March and a match were already scheduled.
The caretaker provincial information minister stated that they had requested that PTI leadership postpone their political programme to a later date, but they refused.
He warned that if PTI showed any resistance, Section 144 would be extended even further.
Amir observed that the official date for electioneering was April 6, adding that anything done before that was a “political activity”.
He denied that the government was to blame for the death of PTI worker Bilal on March 8 during a PTI rally.
