LAHORE: 

The Punjab government has refused to allow the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) to hold a public meeting, scheduled for April 10, at Minar-e-Pakistan and proposed three alternative sites instead.

An MQM delegation, led by Member of the National Assembly Farooq Sattar, met on Wednesday with Senator Pervaiz Rashid of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), the special assistant to the Punjab chief minister, and sought permission for the party’s public gathering at the Minar-e-Pakistan but his request for the site was turned down, ostensibly on security concerns.

Rashid said that the Punjab government could not provide security at an open place like Minar-e-Pakistan. Instead, the government has offered three alternative sites: the Expo Center, Alhamra Hall and the Ferozpur Road. He said that the Punjab government has security reservations about large public gatherings, but if the MQM were to accept one of the alternative sites, then adequate security arrangements could be made.

Observers, however, feel that the PML-N-led Punjab government may have had political reasons for its refusal of permission to the MQM, particularly since the meeting in question was planned in conjunction with the PML-N’s rivals in the Punjab, the Quaid faction of the PML. The MQM and PML-Q have announced a political alliance for the 2013 Punjab Assembly elections in a bid to challenge the PML-N’s dominance in the province.