Pakistan Opposition Defies Coronavirus Pandemic with 15,000-Person Rally
14 Dec 2020
The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), a coalition of 11 establishment parties in the country, organized a rally attracting over 10,000 people on Sunday, openly defying Prime Minister Imran Khan’s request that, in response to a surge of Chinese coronavirus cases, parties cancel mass events.
Khan has not outlawed the rallies – known as
jalsas – to avoid accusations of censoring the opposition, he said in November, but he requested that all political entities practice caution in organizing events that could result in the rapid dissemination of the Chinese coronavirus.
Khan’s political party, the Islamist group Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has canceled its events, but his request has largely fallen on deaf ears. Following the rally on Sunday, PDM leaders said they would soon organize another mass event, a march from Lahore to Islamabad. The cities are about 200 miles apart.