ISLAMABAD: Top leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of jailed former premier Imran Khan were arrested on Monday from the party’s Islamabad office, according to police, party officials and visuals widely shared on social media.
PTI social media accounts shared videos of dozens of policemen surrounding the party’s Islamabad secretariat on Monday morning, while visuals of the party’s information secretary, Raoof Hasan, being led away by police widely circulated online.
Islamabad police spokesperson Taqi Jawad and Sayed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari, Khan’s key adviser on media, confirmed to Arab News that Hasan and PTI Chairman Gohar Khan, who is also Khan’s lawyer, had both been arrested but that Gohar was later released.
“Barrister Gohar himself announced that he was not arrested by police and he is free, while Raoof Hasan was taken by security forces in a joint operation by the FIA (Federal Investigation Agency) and Islamabad police,” Jawad told Arab News. “I am taking details of the charges against him and will share with the media.”
Hasan’s arrest comes after those of several other PTI members in the last few days, including the party’s top media manager Ahmed Waqqas Janjua.
Bukhari said an anti-terrorism court remanded Janjua today, Monday, into police custody for seven days. According to the PTI and Janjua’s lawyer, the investigating officer said explosives were recovered during Janjua’s arrest and links with outlawed organizations would be probed.
“We demanded that at least family should be given right to visit him (Janjua) and the judge said that he will write it in the order,” Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir, Janjua’s lawyer, told Arab News. “Now we will pursue the case further against the remand order.”
The federal government of PM Shehbaz Sharif last week announced plans to ban the PTI and moved the country’s top court to press treason charges against Khan.
Khan came to power in 2018 and was ousted in 2022 after what is widely believed to be a falling out with Pakistan’s powerful military, which had helped propel him into office. The army denies political interference.
Since his ouster, the PTI founder and his party have faced an ever-widening state-backed crackdown and Khan himself has been in jail since August last year. He was acquitted earlier this month in one of the last standing convictions against him but was not freed after authorities issued new orders to arrest him in another case involving riots by his followers in May last year.
Khan, arguably the country’s most popular politician, says all legal cases are motivated to keep him out of politics and dent the popularity of the PTI.
The convictions against him had ruled him out of Feb. 8 general elections, which all candidates from his party were forced to contest as independents after the election commission denied the party its iconic symbol of a cricket bat on technical grounds.
Despite the setbacks, Khan-backed candidates won the most seats in the polls but could not form the government, which is now being led by Sharif’s PMLN party in coalition with other parties.
Noose tightens around Imran Khan’s party as information secretary arrested in Islamabad
https://arab.news/gc6ze
Noose tightens around Imran Khan’s party as information secretary arrested in Islamabad
- The development comes days after the arrest of several other PTI members, including the party’s top media manager
- Pakistan last week announced plans to ban ex-PM Khan’s PTI party, moved top court to press treason charges against him
Pakistan, Bangladesh explore avenues for cooperation in railways sector
- Islamabad, Dhaka have lately been looking to strengthen institutional linkages to broaden cooperation amid thaw in ties
- Pakistan offers expertise in railway development, rolling stock and manufacturing to visiting Bangladeshi officials
KARACHI: Pakistani and Bangladeshi officials have discussed ways to strengthen cooperation in the railways sector, including technical collaboration and capacity-building, the Pakistani railways ministry said on Saturday, as the two sides explore avenues to expand bilateral ties.
The statement came after a visit of Bangladesh’s Secretary for International Organizations Farhad Islam and High Commissioner to Pakistan Mohammad Iqbal Hussain Khan to the Pakistan Railways Workshop Division in Lahore.
It comes amid Islamabad’s efforts to rebuild relations with Bangladesh since the ouster of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, with both countries looking to strengthen institutional linkages to broaden their cooperation.
The visiting Bangladeshi officials were welcomed at the Pakistan Railways headquarters and briefed on the overall functioning, technical capabilities and projects, according to the Pakistani railways ministry.
“The delegation was subsequently given a detailed tour of the Mughalpura Locomotive Workshop, where they were briefed on various stages of locomotive maintenance, rehabilitation, and manufacturing processes,” the ministry said.
“The distinguished guests termed their visit as highly informative, productive, and encouraging, and appreciated the technical expertise and professional competence of Pakistan Railways.”
Pakistan and Bangladesh were part of the same country until Bangladesh’s secession following a bloody civil war in 1971, an event that long cast a shadow over bilateral ties.
Both countries have moved closer since August 2024, following the ouster of Hasina who was considered an India ally. While Pakistan-Bangladesh ties warm up, relations between Dhaka and New Delhi remain strained over India’s decision to grant asylum to Hasina.
A short documentary highlighting the working and operational strength of Pakistan Railways workshops was also presented to the Bangladeshi officials during their visit.
“Federal Minister for Railways, Mr. Muhammad Hanif Abbasi, remains fully committed to further strengthening bilateral relations with brotherly country Bangladesh, particularly in the areas of railway development, exchange of expertise, rolling stock, and cooperation in manufacturing sectors,” the railways ministry said.
“Minister has expressed his resolve to take forward railway-to-railway cooperation between the two countries, emphasizing that mutual collaboration in the railway sector can yield substantial benefits for both nations.”
