BIRMINGHAM: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was forced to cancel a major rally here at the last minute after the police told the organisers that it could not allow PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to attend the rally over serious security concerns.
PPP leaders, led by Azad Kashmir leaders including Chaudhary Abdul Majeed and Chaudhary Yaseen, had campaigned for well over two weeks day and night across the UK in communities originally from Azad Kashmir to host Bilawal Bhutto in the second largest city of Britain but on Saturday the police took control of the hall and its outer gates where the rally was supposed to be held and shut off the entrance.
The West Midlands Police confirmed to The News that “in the last 48 hours, we received information which raised concerns over the safety of the event” and “these concerns were discussed with the venue and the organisers, who have since decided the meeting will go ahead as planned but without two of the original speakers.”
A police intelligence source told The News that the police had credible intelligence that lives of Bilawal Bhutto and Prime Minister of AJK Chaudhary Majeed were “at risk” and the danger was “very high”. The organsiers were told that the police would physically stop Bilawal Bhutto from attending the rally if needed as it couldn’t run the risk of letting him attend the rally. Those arriving on coaches from far-off areas were shocked when told by the police that the rally had been cancelled.
A state of total confusion and uncertainty prevailed when for at least two hours the police didn’t let anyone inside the main gate.
Once allowed inside the ground of the rally hall, the security of the main hall for the public gathering refused to let people in on the grounds that they had not called over the required number of security staff after being told by the police that the rally had been cancelled.
By 1300 hours, at least 4,000 PPP activists, including women and children, had arrived outside the hall but the police remained defiant. Soon afterwards, Faryral Talpur, Rehman Malik, Chaudhary Majeed and Chaudhary Yaseen arrived on the scene and the situation became tense.
Faryal Talpur accused the West Midlands Police of not doing its job properly and playing politics. She questioned why the police had not arranged foolproof security instead of asking Bilawal Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari not to attend.
Rehman Malik called on the British prime minister to look into the matter and ask the police as to why it had sabotaged the PPP rally, which was widely anticipated.
Only 14 hours before the rally, the West Midlands Police told the organisers that it had taken the decision of cancelling the event and would not provide any kind of security.
The PPP leadership instructed Barrister Rashid Ahmed, Barrister Shabir Sarwar and Barrister Azhar Chohan and Councilor Afzal, CBE, to persuade the police to allow the gathering to go ahead and if the police were unwilling to do that, then to apply for an emergency injunction at the High Court restraining the police from cancelling the PPP AJK gathering of its leadership and supporters.
They held the meeting which was attended by barristers Rashid Ahmed, Shabir Sarwar and Azhar Chohan at the Marriot Hotel in Birmingham and just prior to making their application for an injunction, senior police officers arrived at the hotel and commenced further discussions and negotiations on how and what shape the gathering could go ahead.
The police informed the PPP AJK legal team which was also supported by Solicitor Zubair Rasheed that they had serious and credible intelligence that Bilawal Bhutto and Prime Minister of AJK Ch Majid’s lives were at risk and in these circumstances, the gathering could not be allowed to go ahead.
However, after continued and further discussions between the parties, the police confirmed that they had reviewed the situation and had agreed to allow the gathering to go ahead because Bilawal Bhutto had confirmed that he would not be attending on the advice of the police.
Barrister Rashid Ahmed told The News: “Under these circumstances, the police stipulated that the gathering could go ahead provided that AJK PM Ch Majid did not attend the gathering and that the security situation would be reviewed by the police.”
Addressing a press conference, the AJK prime minister and senior minister Chaudhary Yaseen announced that a new date for the rally would be announced soon and it would be “three times larger and more impressive”.
They said the Indian lobby had played a role in the cancellation of the rally. They said that the police didn’t leave them with any option. They vowed that a new date would be announced after consultation with the local Kashmiri leadership. http://www.thenews.com.pk/PrintEdition.aspx?ID=34125&Cat=13&dt=11/16/2014
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