Following the directives of the party's founder, Imran Khan, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters attempted to stage demonstrations in a number of cities, including Karachi, Lahore, and Peshawar. However, they encountered a police crackdown, which led to several arrests, Express News said.
Details indicate that at least ten PTI employees were taken into custody during police operations in Rawalpindi's Jatli neighbourhood.
PTI activists staged a demonstration in the NA-56 constituency of Rawalpindi, which culminated on Saeedpur Road in the midst of heavy security. The demonstrators held up PTI flags and posters of Imran Khan while yelling anti-government chants.
A similar incident occurred in Peshawar when police on Ring Road broke up a demonstration. There were fights amongst the cops. and PTI workers, leading to several arrests.
Police said that PTI activists had not been given permission to hold the march and that anyone caught on the road without a No Objection Certificate (NOC) would be taken into custody.
During a PTI rally in Karachi's Clifton neighbourhood, around fifty people were detained by the police.
A large number of people attended a rally in NA-119 Lahore that was conducted by candidate Mian Shahzad Farooq, who is backed by the PTI.
Another post on PTI's Lahore social media page, X, had many videos demonstrating a sizable turnout in favour of the party. "Everywhere you look, there are rallies. On February 8, no one will be able to stop the fugitive Nawaz despite police violence," a tweet said.
Former federal minister and PTI politician Hammad Azhar claimed earlier in the day that his father, the late Mian Azhar, the former governor of Punjab, had been "arrested" by the police before an electoral rally.
In a post on the social networking site X, Hammad stated that his father, who is eighty-two years old and an independent candidate for the NA-129 constituency with PTI's backing, planned to "exercise his democratic and constitutional right by leading a rally".
"Today, Pakistan has been reduced to an entirely fascist regime with no respect for the rule of law or human rights. The nation is being ruined by one Nawaz Sharif and his daughter, who are in charge."
Imran Khan, the founder of the PTI, gave the order earlier this week for all of the party's candidates to take part in a power show today in Lahore for the national and provincial assemblies.
PTI declared that it will hold national public rallies in anticipation of the general elections on February 8.
The party has major challenges as the elections get closer because of what appears to be an increase in the state apparatus's authoritarian acts, especially in Punjab, the largest province in the country.
PTI has adopted a creative strategy to combat unequal chances by leveraging social media and the internet for their election campaign.
After losing a court battle to preserve its famous electoral emblem, the "bat," the party has successively introduced websites to help voters recognise candidates sponsored by the PTI and their insignia.
This is the PTI's first significant national power demonstration since the May 9 demonstrations.
Events on May 9th
Following the events of May 9, when demonstrators purportedly affiliated with the PTI vandalised public and state properties and even attacked the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi and Jinnah House, the corps commander's residence in Lahore, the party found itself in hot water. This was an unprecedented display of vandalism.
The attacks happened hours after the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) ordered the paramilitary Rangers to arrest the PTI head from the grounds of the Islamabad High Court in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption investigation, which was later dubbed the £190 million scandal.
A brutal crackdown against the activists and leaders of the former ruling party ensued after the unrest.
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