Ex-Pak PM Imran’s party launches movement to press for his release
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has informally kick-started the ‘Free Imran Khan movement’ from Lahore demanding the release of the incarcerated former prime minister with police making several arrests to prevent party workers from joining the protest, the party said on Sunday.
This informal launch comes less than a month ahead of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party’s earlier declared date of August 5.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister and a prominent PTI leader Ali Amin Gandapur reached Lahore late on Saturday night along with the party leaders declaring the launch of the movement to free Khan, the patron-in-chief of the party.
The 72-year-old cricketer-turned-politician has been behind bars since August 2023 after he was booked in multiple cases.
The PTI is gearing up to launch a massive drive from August 5 across the country to press the Shehbaz Sharif government and military establishment to free Khan.
Gandapur and other main leaders of the party are camping in a farmhouse in Lahore’s Raiwind area, adjacent to the Sharif family residence, in the city to give a final shape to their protest campaign.
Meanwhile, police reportedly arrested at least 20 PTI workers who gathered to welcome their leaders at different points in Lahore.
A PTI spokesperson said on Sunday that the Punjab police have detained its several workers. “The police have been raiding the party leaders and workers’ residences in the Punjab province, especially Lahore, for the last couple of days to stop them from taking part in the protest activities,” he said.
A Punjab police spokesperson denied the arrest of any of Khan’s party workers. However, a police source said that at least 20 PTI workers had been picked up.
In Lahore, Gandapur asked the party leaders and workers to take the protest campaign to its peak by August 5.
Earlier, Rana Sanaullah, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs, had had urged the PTI to accept Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s offer of a meeting for negotiations to make amendments to the election laws.
Talks will only be held with those who actually hold power (military establishment), and only in the national interest. I do not fear hardship as my resolve remains strong.
Imran Khan on May 24
‘Struggle against new form of establishment’s rule’
- KPK CM Gandapur said, “The military establishment has been ruling Pakistan for decades and imposed multiple martial laws destroying the country. This time the military has imposed a new kind of martial law, which is not official, but wielding every kind of power and pressure.
- Punjab’s Information Minister Azma Bokhari said Gandapur and his party were “champions of chaos.” She claimed Gandapur’s own province was burning and he had come to Lahore to conquer Punjab. “Gandapur should better go back to KP and work for the welfare of the province,” she said.
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