ISLAMABAD: Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party on Friday said the Islamabad administration has denied permission to the former Prime Minister's helicopter to land at the Parade Ground in the garrison city of Rawalpindi on Saturday to address a protest rally against the Shehbaz Sharif government.
Khan, who is recovering from bullet wounds suffered during an assassination bid, is set to address his supporters in Rawalpindi on November 26. He has said his party's protest in Rawalpindi would be “completely peaceful”.
Taking to Twitter, PTI leader Asad Umar said that the Islamabad administration has denied permission to the party's plea asking to let the party chairman's helicopter land at the Parade Ground on Saturday.
PTI senior vice president Shireen Mazari also hit out at the Islamabad administration for not allowing Khan's helicopter to land at the Parade Ground.
"ICT has denied permission for IK heli to land at Parade Ground altho GHQ permission came yesterday - need permission from both! Clearly this is farcical & a case of good cop-bad cop.
"The fear of Imran Khan has seeped into Conspirators' minds & they continue to threaten his life," she tweeted while reacting to the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Administration's decision.
Earlier this week, PTI had submitted a petition to the Islamabad high court (IHC) seeking permission for Khan's helicopter to be allowed to land and take off from Parade Ground till the "conclusion of the gathering".
The Pakistan Army has said it has “no objection” to PTI's request to allow the helicopter of its chairman Khan to land at the Parade Ground under its control.
"General Headquarters has no objection to the request for placement of helicopters subject to clearance by the authorities,” the Dawn newspaper on Thursday quoted a statement from the headquarters of the Pakistan Army as saying.
Khan, 70, survived a gun attack on his convoy while holding a protest march in the eastern city of Wazirabad on November 3. The attack took place as Khan was leading the march, which was meant to end in the capital Islamabad.
Khan was ousted from power in April after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership, which he alleged was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China, and Afghanistan. The US has denied the allegations.
The cricketer-turned-politician, the only Pakistani Prime Minister to be ousted in a no-confidence vote in Parliament, is seeking fresh general elections. The term of the current national assembly will end in August 2023.
