ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan's aide Maleeka Bokhari resigned from his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party on Thursday, becoming the latest in a long list of Khan lieutenants who have parted ways with him as a crackdown against his party continues.
The development takes place a day after senior PTI leader Chaudhry Fawad Hussain announced he was "parting ways" with Khan while Asad Umar resigned from the party's core committee membership and stepped down as its general secretary.
Khan's party faces a crackdown after thousands of his supporters attacked military installations and government buildings to protest his detention on corruption allegations on May 9. The actions prompted a strong response from the army, which said it would try protesters under military laws.
"There is no pressure on me [to quit the party]," Bokhari told reporters at the National Press Club in Islamabad, after announcing she was resigning from the PTI and would like to distance herself from it.
"Whoever was involved in the May 9 incident will be identified," she said. "However, a red line was crossed and if that red line is crossed, then those who violated it should be tried under Pakistan's law and constitution," Bokhari added.
Senior PTI leaders who were arrested following the violent protests included Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Umar, Hussain, Bokhari, Fayyaz ul Hassan Chauhan, and others. Journalists Imran Riaz Khan and Sami Abraham, widely seen as supporters of the former prime minister, are "missing" with their relatives claiming they were picked by law enforcement agencies.
Meanwhile, local media reports said the names of 80 people, including Khan, and his wife Bushra Bibi have been added by the government to a no-fly list.
“Those included on the no-fly list and barred from traveling abroad include Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi, and PTI leaders Murad Saeed, Maleeka Bokhari, Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, and Hammad Azhar," SAMAA TV said.
In a statement, the PTI said Khan is being subjected to “a virtual house arrest” as internet connectivity at his Zaman Park residence in Lahore has been suspended for two consecutive days.
Punjab police on Thursday also raided the house of Parvez Elahi, Khan’s top aide and the central president of his party, in a corruption case.
International rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW), have called on the Pakistani authorities to end the crackdown on political opposition and have also expressed their concern over the government’s plans to use the military courts to try civilians.