KARACHI: Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, a close aide of former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan, was arrested in Islamabad on Wednesday evening, as the noose tightens around senior leaders of the ex-premier’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.
Khan was himself arrested in Pakistan on Tuesday afternoon in a graft case, unleashing violent nationwide protests that continued well into Wednesday, with six people killed in 48 hours and over a hundred wounded. Another senior Khan aide, Asad Umar, was also arrested on Wednesday morning when he appeared in a court to file a plea to meet Khan.
On Wednesday, Chaudhry went to the Supreme Court to file a petition blocking his arrest. He remained inside the SC building for over 12 hours as police arrived outside to arrest him. He finally appeared outside the court late on Wednesday evening, delivered a short press conference and subsequently surrendered before police close to midnight.
Chaudhry was detained using a law related to the maintenance of public order.
“I have always tried and I will keep saying this that in politics, difficulties have to be resolved not through violence but by giving space, by understanding one another’s point of view and moving forward,” Chaudhry said before he surrendered to Islamabad police.
“But unfortunately, in Pakistan, the divisions have grown. Imran Khan’s arrest has divided the whole Pakistani nation. Right now, there is a fire burning in Pakistan. We have to cool this fire, put water on it, we cannot throw petrol on it. But unfortunately, what we are seeing is that the attempt is to keep the fire going.”
In a veiled message to the all-powerful army whose ties with the PTI have worsened in recent months, Chaudhry said it was for the “betterment” of Pakistan that “we give each other space and move forward.”
Khan, who was ousted from the office of the prime minister in a parliamentary vote of no-confidence last April, has blamed the army, and its then army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, of plotting with the incumbent coalition government of PM Shehbaz Sharif to remove him.
Khan came to power in a 2018 general election widely believed to have been rigged in his favour by the military - which both deny - but has since had a falling out with the army. He has said in interviews that his party's relations with the army have not improved under the new army chief, Gen Asim Munir.
On Wednesday, in a strongly-worded statement that all but named the PTI, the military promised action against violent protestors, as well as their instigators, behind attacks on military properties and installations following Khan’s arrest.
