Correct answer: D. Equal rights and fair application of law
Explanation: The direct answer is D: equal rights and fair application of law. In a democracy, peaceful assembly is a civic freedom, and the government must apply the same rule to supporters and opponents. Step by step: people wish to gather peacefully; the government permits supporters but refuses opponents; the permission is therefore based on political preference, not on a fair, general rule; this is unequal treatment and violates equality before law. Option A, voting secrecy, concerns keeping a person's vote private, not permission to hold a meeting. Option B, regularity of elections, concerns holding elections at proper intervals, so it does not describe this event. Option C, ballot security, concerns protecting ballot papers and voting records, which is also unrelated. Option D is correct because both equal rights and impartial law require similar cases to be treated similarly. Memory cue: when the state gives a right to one political side but denies it to another without a fair reason, think equality and non-discrimination.