ISLAMABAD: Breaking a three-day silence on the arrest of his close aide former Prime Minister Imran Khan, President Dr. Arif Alvi said on Thursday he was “alarmed, shocked, and deeply disturbed” over growing political turmoil in Pakistan, where six have died in violent protests this week.
Khan was arrested in a graft case on Tuesday, triggering protests across the country by impassioned supporters of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), arguably the most popular political party in the country. Protesters have damaged public property and government installations, blocked major roads in a string of cities and stormed military buildings in Lahore and Rawalpindi. One protester has been killed so far in the southwestern city of Quetta and five in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
“I am alarmed, shocked, and deeply disturbed over the current situation in the country arising out of the arrest and manhandling of the former PM Imran Khan,” Alvi, a longtime member of Khan’s PTI, wrote in a Twitter post.
“The loss of human lives as an aftermath is heart-wrenching, regrettable, unfortunate, and highly condemnable.”
The president said while holding protests was the constitutional right of every Pakistani, it should always remain within the bounds of the law.
“The way some miscreants have damaged public property, particularly government and military buildings, is condemnable,” he said.
The president urged “political solutions” to the current crisis and said he had conveyed his concerns to both the political and military leadership of Pakistan.
“I strongly appeal to all citizens of the country to remain peaceful,” Alvi concluded.
On Wednesday, the military and the government of PM Shehbaz Sharif both slammed the PTI for instigating the protests and vowed action against those responsible for damage to lives and property.
