Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Sindh President Haleem Adil Sheikh has directed party workers to assemble outside the Mazar-e-Quaid for the party’s rally to be held later in the day.

Speaking to the media on Sunday, Sheikh said that holding the rally in Karachi was PTI’s legal right and that a request had been submitted for it.

However, he claimed there was a delay in the issuance of the no-objection certificate (NOC).

He said that as of 5pm Saturday, the NOC had not been issued, during which time party workers were sent back from Bagh-e-Jinnah, some were beaten with batons, and several were arrested by the police.

Haleem Adil Sheikh added that the gates of Bagh-e-Jinnah were locked late at night, preventing PTI workers from entering.

“Our workers and leaders were baton-charged, while some were arrested,” he said.

He questioned why, once permission was eventually granted, PTI workers were attacked and chased away, and why heavy-handed policing continued past midnight despite the NOC.

He also condemned the deliberate obstacles placed in the route of Chief Minister Sohail Afridi’s convoy, which reportedly took seven hours to reach Karachi from Hyderabad.

Earlier, the PTI had announced that the rally would be held outside Mazar-e-Quaid, but after the NOC was issued, the venue was shifted to Bagh-e-Jinnah.

Now, the party has announced the rally will again be held at Mazar-e-Quaid.

The Sindh government’s notification for the rally includes 26 conditions under which the event can take place from 8 pm to midnight.

It specifies that the bomb disposal squad will inspect the venue before handing it over to organisers, and that a complete video recording of the rally must be submitted to authorities the following day.

The notification also prohibits holding the rally on roads and assigns organisers the responsibility of maintaining public order.

Sindh Interior Minister Zia Lanjar and Local Government Minister Nasir Hussain Shah stated that while the government would cooperate with the rally at Bagh-e-Jinnah, no street gathering would be allowed, and actions causing public inconvenience would not be permitted.

Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon emphasised that organisers would be fully responsible for law and order during the rally.

He warned that no provocative speeches against the state would be tolerated, the sanctity of Mazar-e-Quaid must be preserved, and traffic flow must be maintained.