After Gujranwala and Karachi, the third meeting of the opposition Ittehad-e-Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) will be held in Quetta on Sunday.
Other political leaders, including Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Maryam Nawaz and Yousuf Raza Gilani, arrived in Quetta to attend the rally, but Pashtun Protection Movement National Assembly member Mohsin Dawar was stopped by security forces at the airport when he arrived in Quetta. PTM workers staged a sit-in outside the airport.
The PTM meeting will be held at the football ground of Ayub Stadium in Quetta for which preparations have been completed. In addition to the venue and its surroundings, the city's highways have also been decorated with flags of PDM parties.
Zarghoon Road was first chosen for the rally, but after the security threat was issued by NICTA, the PDM shifted the rally to Ayub Stadium at the request of the provincial government.
Strict security arrangements are being made for the meeting. Apart from police and Balochistan Constabulary, FC troops have also been deployed.
According to the Balochistan Home Department, more than 4,000 personnel will be deployed for the security of the rally, while double riding on a motorbike has been banned for 24 hours due to security concerns in the city.
The provincial government also asked PDM leaders to postpone the meeting due to security concerns, but Pashtunkhwa MAP leader and former provincial minister Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal said the responsibility for law and order lay with the provincial government, the provincial government and the provincial minister. Instead of intimidating us, pay attention to the security of the meeting.
"Even though we are making security arrangements on our own, no one will be allowed to enter the stage without a pass," he said.
Rahim Ziaratwal said that we do not feel threatened and we are not afraid.
He claimed that this meeting would be the largest in the history of Balochistan. No one has filled the football ground of Ayub Stadium till date but we will fill it.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz, Pervez Rashid, Maryam Aurangzeb, PPP leader former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and others arrived in Quetta to attend the meeting.
He was received at the airport by PDM leaders. Pashtunkhwa MAP chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai, BNP president Sardar Akhtar Mengal and National Party chief Dr Abdul Malik Baloch will also address the meeting.
According to PPP sources, Bilawal Bhutto, who is on a visit to Gilgit-Baltistan, will not attend the Quetta rally. He will address the rally via video link.
Speaking to media after arriving in Quetta on Saturday, Nawaz said that PML-N leader Mian Nawaz Sharif would address the gathering through a video link from London.
On the other hand, Mohsin Dawar, a member of the National Assembly, a leader of the Pashtun Tehreek Movement, was stopped at the airport by security personnel when he arrived in Quetta to attend the rally.
According to the Balochistan Home Department, Mohsin Dawar is barred from entering Balochistan until October 29 under the Balochistan Maintenance of Public Order. The ban was imposed on July 29 for 90 days.
An attempt was made to send Mohsin Dawar back to Karachi from the next flight but he refused to board the plane.
When Mohsin Dawar was not allowed to enter the city, PTM workers staged a sit-in outside the airport.
Earlier, Mohsin Dawar was taken into custody on his arrival in Quetta in September and sent back to Islamabad.
In Quetta, PML-Q provincial president Jaffar Mandokhel announced his joining the PML-N in the presence of Maryam Nawaz.
PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz also addressed the workers convention. Talking to the workers convention and the media, he said that the days of government are numbered, the time is not far when the fake government will save our lives.
He said that the Supreme Court had foiled the attack on him yesterday, used in the reference against President Qazi Faiz Issa but the real characters are Imran Khan and others.
Maryam Nawaz said that don't give us any lecture, we are patriots, we respect the army, many young men of the army keep their oath, we respect them with all our heart.
