Pakistan’s law enforcement agencies have launched a crackdown on jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ahead of its planned protest march in Islamabad on Sunday, arresting over 200 supporters of the party in Lahore and other parts of Punjab district, a party leader said.
According to Khan’s party, the Punjab police have started raiding the houses of party legislators, leaders, office-bearers and workers and misbehaving with their families besides ransacking their household items.
“So far, the police have detained over 200 supporters during raids in Lahore and other parts of Punjab,” a senior leader of Khan’s party from Punjab said on Tuesday.
Khan’s supporters will reach Islamabad on November 24 in large numbers to demand his release from jail, return of the stolen mandate and the restoration of the Constitution.
The PTI says the fascist government will not be able to stop people from marching on the federal capital.
Meanwhile, in a post on X on Tuesday, Khan said: “Death is better than a life of slavery. I have previously only called on people associated with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to protest, but since the final nail has now been hammered into the coffin of democracy in our country after February 8th (2024), the entire nation must come out to protest against this oppression.” He said the foundational pillars of democracy – the rule of law, fair and transparent elections, and freedom of expression – are suspended in the country.
“The media is under severe censorship. There is a complete ban on broadcasting my statements, and the media has to operate under severe restrictions. The repeated disruption of the internet to suppress the voice of the people has cost the country 550 billion rupees this year. According to newspaper reports, internet performance in Pakistan has been limited to only 27 per cent. All these heinous steps are only being taken to somehow crush PTI and suppress our voice,” he said.
“From Shahbaz Gill to Intazar Panjutha, there is a whole series of enforced disappearances, brutality, and violence against PTI workers, for which no one has been able to obtain justice. The Punjab government and the police get away with it by claiming that the military is asking them to do this. The Army is a national institution; it does not belong to a single person or party, and these incidents are bringing our national security institutions into disrepute,” he added.
Khan said enslaved nations eventually die away. “That is why, as a nation, we must be ready to choose death over slavery, and the call for protest on November 24 is not only for PTI but for the entire nation.” Khan, 72, has been incarcerated in multiple cases since August last year. He has been convicted in a few and got bail in some but continues to be in jail on account of other cases.
