ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad police said on Monday they had arrested the chairman and two other members of former prime minister Imran Khan’s party on charges of violating a new law to regulate public gatherings in the Pakistani capital.
The development came a day after Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party held a rally in Islamabad to press authorities for the release of the former prime minister, who has been in jail since last August.
The government last week passed the Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Act, 2024 to streamline the process for obtaining permission to hold public gatherings in Islamabad and designating specific areas for such activity.
The Islamabad administration had allowed the PTI to hold the rally in Islamabad from 4pm till 7pm on Sunday, but later said in a letter to PTI Islamabad President Amir Masood Mughal that the condition had not been adhered to by the party.
“Three PTI leaders, Barrister Gohar Khan, Shoaib Shaheen and Sher Afzal Marwat were arrested today,” Islamabad police spokesperson Taqi Jawad told Arab News.
“They were arrested due to violation of new law, the Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Act, in PTI gathering on September 8.”
The new law proposes three-year jail terms for participants of “illegal” assemblies, with ten-year imprisonment for repeat offenders.
Footage shared by the PTI on X showed its chairman Gohar Khan being taken away by the Islamabad police.
“The chairman of Pakistan’s largest political party with the biggest voter base, Barrister Gohar, has been arrested at the gates of Parliament along with other PTI leaders and Members of the National Assembly,” the PTI said on X.
“This shows how opposition is being suppressed using brute force.”
Khan’s PTI says it has faced a months-long crackdown since protesters linked to the party attacked and damaged government and military installations on May 9, 2023, after Khan’s brief arrest that day in a land graft case.
Hundreds of PTI followers and leaders were arrested following the riots and many remain behind bars as they await trial. The military has also initiated army court trials of at least 103 people accused of involvement in the violence.
“The government and the establishment have been in depression since yesterday’s rally and the leaders of Tehreek-e-Insaaf are being arrested right now,” Shahbaz Gill, a PTI member and Khan ally, said on X.
“Will all this help stop this movement? Get some sense. This is Imran Khan’s time.”
Khan, who has been in jail since August last year, faces a slew of charges and was convicted in four cases since he was first taken into custody, all of which have been either suspended or overturned by the courts. He remains in jail, however, on new charges brought by Pakistan’s national accountability watchdog regarding the illegal sale of gifts from a state repository while he was prime minister from 2018 till 2022.
The ex-premier has waged an unprecedented campaign of defiance against Pakistan’s powerful military and blamed the then army leadership of orchestrating his ouster in a parliamentary no-trust vote in April 2022. The army says it does not interfere in political affairs.
Imran Khan party leaders arrested as crackdown begins over violations of Pakistani law on rallies
https://arab.news/rrfxy
Imran Khan party leaders arrested as crackdown begins over violations of Pakistani law on rallies
- Gohar Khan, Shoaib Shaheen and Sher Afzal Marwat arrested a day after Khan’s PTI party held a rally in Islamabad to press for his release
- The Islamabad administration on Sunday informed officials of Khan’s party they had failed to conclude their rally by appointed time
Government hails joining Gaza peace board as ‘diplomatic success’ amid opposition criticism
- Ahsan Iqbal says Pakistan took the decision after consulting other Muslim nations
- Opposition objects to joining Trump-chaired forum without parliamentary consensus
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday described its decision to join a newly formed international body aimed at supporting peace efforts in Gaza as a “diplomatic success,” dismissing opposition criticism that the move was taken without parliamentary consensus.
The Gaza Board of Peace brings together participating states and international stakeholders seeking to support dialogue, stability and peace-related initiatives linked to the conflict in the Palestinian enclave.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif signed the forum’s charter a day earlier on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos.
Opposition lawmakers objected to the decision in parliament, saying the government joined the initiative without taking them into confidence or disclosing its terms.
“If Pakistan had not gone to the Board of Peace today, these honorable members would have been making the same forceful speeches that Pakistan has been isolated, that no one is engaging with Pakistan and asking why Pakistan was not included in such a major peace initiative,” Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal said in a parliamentary address.
“If Pakistan has been given center stage today, enabling us to contribute to peace in Palestine and Gaza alongside our brotherly Islamic countries, then this is a major diplomatic success for Pakistan, one that we should welcome rather than standing aside,” he added.
Iqbal said Islamabad had taken the decision after consulting other Muslim nations and described the forum as part of an international initiative aimed at ending bloodshed in Gaza.
He added that the initiative had been welcomed by Palestinians, even as Pakistan’s decision to pursue it with other nations faced criticism at home.
Representatives of 19 countries signed the charter on Thursday alongside US President Donald Trump, who addressed the gathering but offered few details about the body’s mandate, how it would operate or how it might pursue conflict resolution efforts.
Pakistan and seven other Muslim countries said in a joint statement on Wednesday that they had accepted Trump’s invitation to join the board, expressing hope that it could contribute to a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
Chaired by Trump, the board is expected to include US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, former British prime minister Tony Blair and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Israel announced on Wednesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would also be a member of the board.
