Puppet rule must come to an end, says PDM

PESHWAR: In defiance of a ban on public gatherings and without a formal permission, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), an alliance comprising 11 of the country's opposition parties, staged it fourth power show in Peshawar during which it made renewed attacks on the incumbent Imran Khan-led government.

Amid a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of supporters and activists from to nearly a dozen political parties attended Sunday's rally at the city's Ring Road area, Dawn news reported.

Also on Sunday, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had issued a warning citing fresh intelligence reports that the "rally is prone to possible acts of terrorism".

In his address, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari reiterated that it was time for Imran Khan's "selected government" to go.

"We will hold accountable the puppet government and their selectors as well," he said, adding that corruption could not be rooted out until the law of the land applied equally to "judges, generals and politicians" of Pakistan.

Meanwhile, PDM and Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman declared Khan as Pakistan's Mikhail Gorbachev, saying that his actions and policies would hollow out the country, making it vulnerable to disintegration, Dawn news reported.

"The government policies are aimed at changing the geography of border regions like the former Fata and Gilgit-Baltistan," he said, adding: "Without the people's mandate and without taking the inhabitants of these places into confidence."

He further said that the "puppet" rulers had lost their credibility in the country as well as abroad. Despite being in attendance, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz did not address the rally after receiving news of the demise of her grandmother in London.

Sunday's rally would be the alliance's fourth power show after the first, second and the third were held on October 16 in Gujranwala, October 19 in Karachi and October 25 in Quetta.

After Peshawar, the PDM is scheduled to stage two more rallies — Multan on November 30 and Lahore on December 13. (IANS)

Also Read: PDM to hold Peshawar rally despite permission row

Also Watch: AGP President Atul Bora at Assam Chatra Parishad's bike rally to mark its 1st Foundation Day