The Islamabad High Court has barred authorities from harassing or arresting PTI’s Islamabad leaders ahead of the 27 September march (Express Tribune).
The order
Justice Raja Inam Ameen Minhas ruled that Malik Amir Ali, Shoaib Shaheen and others may not be harassed or arrested before the march. He summoned the Islamabad SSP Operations to appear in person and adjourned the hearing.
What the court was told
Advocate Shaheen said “arrests and raids have started again ahead of the long march”, and that “women, children and girls were being taken away from their homes during raids”.
Two orders pointing in opposite directions
This is the same court that on Monday barred political parties, leaders and provincial governments from occupying roads, highways and public places in and leading to Islamabad, and from using state resources to organise a march.
Read together, the position is coherent rather than contradictory: the court is setting limits on both sides. Parties may not occupy the capital; the state may not detain their organisers to prevent them trying.
Whether both halves are enforced with equal energy is the question. One is directed at a party with a protest to run; the other at a police force with a summons to answer.
The context
PTI said 54 workers were arrested in southern Punjab; its Punjab information secretary reported the detention of hundreds including women. More than 30 activists were held under public order powers in Rawalpindi. Punjab’s Section 144 order expires on 17 September.
None of those figures has been independently confirmed, and the Punjab government has not responded.
What is not established
No date has been reported for the resumed hearing, and the order as reported covers named Islamabad leaders rather than PTI workers generally. The Islamabad police have not commented publicly.
[Image: The Express Tribune]
