ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party continued to express its defiance on Thursday by criticizing state institutions for their lack of understanding of the situation on the ground as the authorities arrested its vice chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the early hours of the day.
The PTI issued a detailed rebuttal of an official statement released by the army’s media wing, ISPR, on Wednesday wherein it warned to taken action against “facilitators, planners and political activists” behind organized attacks on its installations following Khan’s arrest on graft charges on Tuesday.
The former prime minister was taken into custody from inside the Islamabad High Court by the paramilitary Rangers in a graft case being investigated by the country’s anti-corruption body, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). On Wednesday, he was remanded in NAB custody for eight days for investigation in the case.
The development led to violent protests in which PTI followers stormed sensitive military buildings and set public property on fire, making the ISPR say it was a “black day” for the country. Khan’s party responded by issuing a strongly worded statement, saying the declaration by the army’s media wing contradicted facts on the ground.
“Since its inception, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf and its chairman Imran Khan has worked for the supremacy of constitution and rule of law,” said the PTI’s central media department. “Protection of political, economic and social rights of the people of Pakistan is our aim. The PTI has resisted the total or partial suspension of constitution through martial law, and we have remained strongly opposed to robbing the people of their voice through rigging and election interference.”
The party maintained the public reaction after Khan’s “abduction” from the Islamabad High Court on May 9 owed to several factors. Among them was “the gross deviation from constitution,” it continued, which included violations of fundamental rights of the people.
In addition to that, said the PTI, the “illegal attempts to crush its leadership” had also given rise to bitterness among people which had been neglected by the state.
The statement noted Khan had presented the solution to the political and administrative crises in the country by proposing transparent national elections, but his suggestion was not heeded.
“The idea of depriving the people of their sovereignty must be abandoned and the constitution must be given a decisive status,” it added.
Meanwhile, the second highest ranking PTI leader, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, was arrested by the capital police in the early hours of the day. He was spearheading the party in Khan’s absence and was taken away by plain-clothed men to an undisclosed location.
Prior to Qureshi’s arrest, other close aides of the former prime minister, including Asad Umar and Chaudhry Fawad Hussain were also arrested under the maintenance of public order provision in Pakistani law.
As protests continued and the government announced to deploy army at sensitive locations, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for all parties “to refrain from violence” and stressed the “need to respect the right to peaceful assembly.”