LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) staged dozens of big and small rallies on the eve of the 77th Independence Day of Pakistan across Punjab with a pledge to continue their struggle for achieving the goal of a ‘real independence’ and release of incarcerated party leaders and workers, including PTI founding Chairman Imran Khan.

On this occasion, former federal minister Hammad Azhar here surprised the party workers by joining them at Liberty Chowk. Amid heavy deployment of the police force along with prison vans, the PTI workers, supporters and citizens started to gather at Liberty Market before midnight to register their protest against the detention of PTI leaders. Hammad Azhar, who was underground after the May 9 incidents, led a public motorbike rally on Gulberg Main Boulevard along with PTI leader Shaukat Basra. Rally participants were holding national and party flags. They chanted slogans in favour of their leader, Imran Khan, and demanded his immediate release along with other detainees.

Meanwhile, PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s son and daughter – Zain Hussain Qureshi and Mehar Bano Qureshi – also held a public rally on the call of party’s founding. In a social media post shared by Mehr Bano Qureshi, both siblings were seen leading a public rally on a motorbike in their home town, Multan.

In another social post, PTI Member National Assembly Zartaj Gul Wazir was witnessed mobilising the PTI workers and supporters in a local market. She was seen arguing with the police and chanting slogans of 'Pakistan Zindabad' when a policeman tried to snatch the national flag from her hand.

The PTI also staged protest rallies in several other cities of Punjab, including Rawalpindi, Dera Ghazi Khan, and Murree.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024