Pak opposition parties to go ahead with mega rally defying govt's order

Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), an alliance of the country's opposition parties against Imran Khan government, will go ahead with a mega rally in Peshawar on November 22, defying the government's diktat banning 'jalsas' citing the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The PDM's November 22 rally in Peshawar will be held as per schedule," the media coordinator for the Opposition parties' coalition, Abdul Jalil Jan, said Monday, reported Geo News.

Jan stressed that the PDM's high command had already decided to hold all the meetings. "We will not allow the rulers to hide behind the coronavirus pandemic," he said.

Amid the growing protest over the emerging election results in the Gilgit Baltistan region, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday announced a ban on rallies and gatherings.

In an address after a meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) on coronavirus, the Prime Minister had announced a moratorium on political rallies and gatherings, as well as a ban on gatherings and crowds of more than 300 people, Geo News reported.

"The chief minister of Gilgit-Baltistan told us that the coronavirus spread significantly after the election campaigns," he said.

India has slammed Islamabad for its decision to hold elections in the illegally occupied region of Gilgit-Baltistan, saying that any action to alter the status of the region has no legal basis.

( With inputs from ANI )