ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Tuesday asked its Punjab chapter to bring more women to the sit-in on Friday and also make arrangements to get all party workers released from jail.

The direction was issued at a meeting of the PTI Punjab held at a hotel in Melody Market, which was attended by Chaudhry Ejaz, Jehangir Tareen and Azam Swati.

A senior PTI leader told Dawn that a message of the party chairman, Imran Khan, was also conveyed to the participants that the party should show its strength on Friday.

Also read: Friday to be ‘Go Nawaz Go’ Day: Imran

“The target of 100,000 people has been set for Rawalpindi district alone,” he said, adding that the meeting discussed the strategy to avoid further arrest of the party workers.

Party’s Pindi chapter given target of bringing 100,000 people to sit-in

He said PTI Rawalpindi had been asked to bring maximum number of women to the sit-in as it would not be possible for the government to arrest them.

“The party chairman expressed his dissatisfaction over the working of the district chapters and local MPAs in gathering exact number of workers arrested by the police during the last three days.

Many parents approached the party leadership to find out the whereabouts of their arrested children but the local office-bearers had no information,” he said.

The PTI leader said all district presidents and general secretaries had been asked to visit police stations, jails and the district administration offices and compile lists of the arrested people so that the party could file petitions with the courts for their bail.

During the meeting, it was also decided not to violate Section 144 in Rawalpindi to avoid arrest of party workers and supporters.

“If people come in form of rallies, the Punjab police will stop them in Rawalpindi. Therefore, all those coming to the sit-in should arrive at Faizabad individually before entering the federal capital,” he said.

The PTI leader said the party’s Punjab chapter president also expressed dissatisfaction over the performance of Rawalpindi district as it could not meet the targets on Saturday.

“The local leaders and MPAs had been asked to shun their differences as it was affecting the number of participants from Rawalpindi district,” he said.

When contacted, PTI Punjab President Chaudhry Ejaz said the meeting was called to review the performance of district chapters, especially after the detention of party workers.

“The office-bearers have been directed to make arrangements to get party workers released. Most people were arrested and detained in farmhouses and cattle pens and were being mistreated,” he claimed.

He said the party wanted to get all workers and supporters released. In reply to a question, he said the party had set the target for all district chapters across the province but the figure of 100,000 was for the twin cities alone.

He said people had been advised not to violate Section 144 in any part of the province to avoid arrest before reaching the sit-in venue.

Published in Dawn, September 17th, 2014