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Former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has decided to file cases against the country’s top graft buster for “abducting” him from the Islamabad High Court on corruption charges.
On May 9, Khan was arrested by the paramilitary Rangers in a corruption case from the Islamabad High Court and bundled into a prison van sparking massive protests across the country by supporters of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. The party has also announced registering murder cases against those responsible for opening fire on “unarmed, peaceful” people protesting in the wake of 70-year-old Imran’s arrest.
The arrest by the Pakistan Rangers triggered unrest in Pakistan that continued till Friday and led to several deaths and dozens of military and state installations being destroyed by the protesters. For the first time in the country’s history, the protesters stormed the army headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi and also torched the historic Corps Commander’s House in Lahore. Police put the death toll in violent clashes to 10 while Imran’s party claims 40 of its workers lost their lives in the firing by security personnel.
The party will name the interior minister, caretaker chief ministers of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, inspectors general police of the two provinces and other senior officials in its first information reports, the Express Tribune newspaper reported. The party has also demanded an independent investigation into the incidents of vandalism and arson that took place on May 9 to be undertaken by a high-level commission comprising top court judges.
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All this was decided on Sunday during a high-level meeting of the PTI leaders chaired by Imran Khan in Lahore. The meeting was called to devise the party’s future course of action in the wake of rising unrest and lawlessness in the country. The meeting deliberated on the current political situation, open violations of the Constitution by the incumbent government, suspension of fundamental rights and illegal arrests of the PTI leaders, workers and common citizens.
It strongly condemned the “abduction” of former prime minister Imran Khan from the IHC. The meeting decided to register an FIR against the NAB and Rangers, the report added. Meanwhile, PTI Chairman Khan said democracy in Pakistan is at an “all-time low” and the judiciary is the only hope for the country. The government is petrified of elections as it fears being wiped out by the PTI at the polls, Imran said during an interview with an international media outlet on Sunday. The former premier claimed that the incumbent government is trying to remove him from the political scene by putting him behind bars or assassinating him before announcing polls. “Two attempts have been made on my life; my house has been raided for 24 hours and I have been detained,” he said.
Story first published: Monday, May 15, 2023, 16:07 [IST]
