RAWALPINDI: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) had to postpone its workers’ convention in Rawalpindi on Saturday as none of the marriage hall owners was willing to rent out their space to the party due to the pressure from the local administration.

The convention was scheduled to be held in a private marriage hall at Islamabad Expressway to brief the PTI workers about the purpose of the Azadi March and the plans of the party chief, Imran Khan.

PTI senior leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi was invited to address the gathering.

However, the administration of the private hall informed MPA Arif Abbasi of the PTI early on Saturday morning that they would not be able to provide the space for political gathering on the “advice” of the Rawalpindi police and the local administration.

The party sources said no other marriage hall allowed the PTI to hold its convention, saying the Special Branch officers had visited all the major marriage halls and stopped their administrations from providing their spaces to the PTI or Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT).

MPA Arif Abbasi told Dawn that the marriage halls had cancelled their booking under the pressure of the Punjab government. “The local administration and the city police officer have threatened to take action against the marriage hall owners if they provided their space to the PTI or PAT for party functions till August 14,” he claimed.

The MPA said the party had now launched a door-to-door campaign to mobilise the people for the Azadi March.

When asked why the party did not organise the function in an open space, Mr Abbasi said PTI wanted to avoid a clash with the government before August 14 for the safety of their workers.

“The police and the local administration want a clash with the PTI workers to stop the Azadi march but we will not come under their political scheme,” he said.

He claimed that the government was afraid of PTI’s popularity and the anti-government resentment of the people, which is why it’s using force to stop the people from expressing their sentiments.

A senior official of the City District Government Rawalpindi (CDGR) told Dawn that PTI feared low attendance at their convention and postponed the event.

“PTI MPA from PP-11, Rashid Hafeez, owns a marriage hall at Kuri Road. The party could have used that hall if others refused them,” he said.

Meanwhile, MPA Arif Abbasi explained that Rashid Hafeez’s marriage hall could only accommodate 300 people but the party needed a place with the seating capacity of at least 2,000 people with a sufficient parking area.

Rawalpindi Marriage Hall Owners Association President Advocate Malik Zahoor said that there was no restriction on marriage hall owners, however, some halls might have refused to cater to PTI on the pressure from the government, but no such incident was brought into the notice of the association.

Rawalpindi Commissioner Zahid Saeed said that the government had not stopped the PTI from holding political activities and termed their allegations baseless.

“It is a personal decision of the businessmen if they want to avoid such functions. PTI is roaming freely in the division. Javed Hashmi and Shah Mehmood Qureshi held various political functions in Attock on Saturday, and no one stopped them,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2014