As the imminent February 8 Election Day approaches, acts of terror have punctuated the atmosphere, amplifying the prevailing sense of unease and jeopardizing the safety of both candidates and voters. These confluences of events collectively underscore the urgent imperative for an electoral environment that is not only fair but also transparent, safeguarding the democratic principles that form the bedrock of Pakistan’s electoral ethos.
Dozens detained
Pakistani police detained at least two dozen supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan Sunday as they tried to rally in the country’s biggest city ahead of elections next month.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has been severely hamstrung ahead of the February 8 poll, with rallies banned, its party symbol taken away, and dozens of its candidates rejected from eligibility to stand.
On Sunday, PTI officials urged supporters to rally across the country despite police withdrawing or declining permission for the gatherings to take place.
Around 2,000 gathered in Karachi, the bustling southern port city of over 20 million people on the Arabian Sea, where AFP correspondents saw about two dozen PTI supporters detained by police and taken away in trucks. PTI media advisor Zulfiqar Bukhari said there had also been arrests in Rawalpindi — the sprawling garrison city neighbouring the capital, Islamabad — as well as in other parts of Punjab, the country’s most populous province.
Police officials said they had no information on arrests. The election has largely been a lacklustre affair so far, with few mass rallies — a combination of party inaction, voter apathy, and the cold winter weather.
Hammad Azhar’s father ‘arrested’ in Lahore
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Hammad Azhar on Sunday claimed police have ‘arrested’ his 82-year-old father Mian Azhar in Lahore.
Hammad Azhar took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to express his frustration. The PTI leader said police have ‘arrested’ his father during a public rally in NA-129.
Hammad Azhar also shared a picture of his father in police custody from his X, account. Before January 24, in connection with the attack on the Jinnah House case, Lahore Police had conducted a raid to apprehend Hammad Azhar, a leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). However, the suspect, who was giving refuge to Hammad Azhar, managed to facilitate his escape.
2 injured in grenade attack
Two people were injured in a grenade attack on the National Party’s election office on Sunday in Balochistan’s Mastung, according to police.
Unknown persons lobbed a grenade at the party’s election office before fleeing, police sources said.
Earlier this week, a police constable was martyred in an armed attack at the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) regional office in the Turbat town of Kech district.
Officials said unidentified assailants on motorcycles opened fire and threw a grenade at the office, leading to a brief shootout. The constable, identified as Nimroz, succumbed to multiple bullet injuries.
On Jan 22, the election offices of PPP candidates in Mastung and Kharan were targeted by unknown armed men using hand grenades. In a separate incident, a National Party candidate in Turbat also narrowly escaped an armed attack. On January 15, the premises of the Government Model High School in Kharan was targeted by unknown men during a training session for polling staff. All the government officials and election staff in the school remained unhurt during the attack.
2 injured in IED blast outside PTI leader’s home in Bannu
Meanwhile, two people were injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast outside the residence of former PTI provincial minister Malik Shah Muhammad Khan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu.
DSP Imran Aslam told Dawn.com that an IED was fitted to a motorcycle parked outside Muhammad’s house.
The police official added that Muhammad was not present at his residence at the time of the blast.
“The former minister’s son was in his hujra (guest house) when the explosion occurred but he remained safe”, DSP Aslam said. The official said that a large police contingent had reached the site and launched a search operation to nab the perpetrators.
A Rescue 1122 official said a medical team was dispatched to the scene when the control room was informed of the blast. He added that the two injured persons were shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital in Bannu city.
TLP office in Lahore attacked
In a disturbing turn of events, In Lahore’s Sabzi Mandi area, gunfire erupted at the office of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), resulting in injuries to Akram Rizvi, the party’s candidate contesting from PP-146 constituency.
Emergency services swiftly responded to the scene, rushing Akram Rizvi to the hospital for urgent medical attention. The motive behind the attack and the identities of the perpetrators remain unknown.
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