In a bold move, Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz imposed banned public gatherings by political parties at Greater Iqbal Park (Minar-e-Pakistan), Lahore.
According to details, Chief Minister Hamza Shahbaz chaired an important meeting in which he approved a ban on public gatherings in Greater Iqbal Park.
During a meeting it was briefed that the plantation at the Greater Iqbal Park was damaged after a public rally of the PTI, resulting in losses of Rs 5 million to the provincial exchequer.
Read more: Netizens call Minar-e-Pakistan incident a publicity stunt
As a result, CM Hamza said organizing political events at the historic park was by no means appropriate. Moreover, he rejected the idea of charging an entry fee from people coming to the park. He said that it was a park for people from all walks of life and he would not allow any entry fee.
“Such an item should not be even brought before the meeting,” he said.
It is pertinent to mention here that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, 2016, inaugurated the Greater Iqbal Park in Lahore. The 125-acre park is surrounded almost entirely by the old city of Lahore and was recently used by PTI to hold a political gathering.
PTI pulls huge crowd at Minar-e-Pakistan
Following his ouster as the prime minister, Imran Khan made a strong comeback in politics as he held public rallies across the country. His rallies in Peshawar, Karachi, and later in Lahore, faced huge success as thousands came out to support him.
There were multiple reports on the number of people that attended the Lahore jalsa at Minar-e-Pakistan. One news channel claimed that only 7000-9000 people attended the rally. However, additional reports state that the number of people was leaps and bounds more.
This was not a Jalsa or a political event this is a revolution! People of Lahore came out voluntarily on call of @ImranKhanPTI to seek sovereignty and Azadi for their country 🇵🇰. Massive ! #امپورٹڈ_حکومت_نامنظور pic.twitter.com/iuvBCquzYY
— Mansoor Hayat Lak (@MansoorHayatLak) April 21, 2022
According to a media report, an official of the Special Branch informed that per his report, more than 60,000 people were present at the venue. The official further said that there were less than 50,000 seats while most of the people listened to the meeting while standing.
Moreover, attendees of the rally claimed that they had never seen such a huge crowd gathered at Minar-e-Pakistan. In fact, there were claims that PTI broke its own record.