\u2022 Power shows planned in Lahore, Rawalpindi; party claims several workers arrested
\n\u2022 Asad Qaiser says this isn\u2019t \u2018final call\u2019; protest to continue till govt\u2019s ouster
\n\u2022 Ali Zafar says door to dialogue closed, but \u2018decisions can change\u2019
\n\u2022 Azma hopes people will reject \u2018politics of chaos\u2019<\/p>\n
ISLAMABAD\/LAHORE: Amid claims of a crackdown by the government, the PTI will launch its movement for the release of party founder Imran Khan and other prisoners today, which, it said, will continue till the ouster of the incumbent government.<\/p>\n
According to PTI leader Asad Qaiser, August 5 is the inception of the protest, but it should not be considered a \u2018final call\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cProvincial chapters of the PTI have been directed to arrange rallies, public awareness events, and other activities. The protest will continue till the fake government is removed,\u201d he said, adding that it was the right of the masses that their true representatives sit in parliament. The Aug 5 protest marks the second anniversary of party chief Imran Khan\u2019s imprisonment in a corruption case.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have decided to involve all segments of the society\u2026in the protest as we have been raising our voice for their rights,\u201d the PTI leader claimed.<\/p>\n
According to Mr Qaiser, raids against workers and members of parliament have started, while a number of workers have been arre\u00adsted. He said details were being collected to know the actual number of arrests. The PTI leader claimed raids had started in Punjab and Kashmir and Section 144 was being imposed in different districts.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, PTI Punjab media cell head Shayan Bashir, in a press conference alongside Senator Ali Zafar, claimed that the police made some 200 raids and picked up party workers, who were released after allegedly submitting affidavits.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe PTI will stage a major show of strength in Lahore and outside Adiala Jail (in Rawalpindi), besides organising massive rallies across the province, which will continue afterwards at full throttle,\u201d he said. \u201cParty workers and supporters from different districts have also reached Lahore,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
During the presser, Senator Zafar made an ambiguous statement about talks, saying that though the \u201cdoor for dialogue\u201d had been closed by Imran Khan but in politics, \u201cdecisions do change\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said Mr Khan had given a message that he would be ready to stay in jail for 10 years for the people of Pakistan and the rule of law and not succumb to any kind of pressure, including \u201cfake cases\u201d and delay in the hearing of his cases.<\/p>\n
Saying that he believed in dialogue, Senator Zafar said Mr Khan had once allowed the party to go into dialogue with two conditions, which were not accepted by the government, and the talks fell through.<\/p>\n
Senator Zafar said the government was relying on four major cases against Imran Khan \u2014Toshakhana-I, the cipher case, the Iddat case and the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case \u2014but all cases crumbled one by one as they reached the high court. \u201cThe convictions handed down by the jail trial courts were suspended by the high court in a matter of minutes, except for the last Al-Qadir Trust case, which is not being allowed to be heard for the sake of delay,\u201d he claimed.<\/p>\n
Claiming that Mr Khan was resolute that he would get out of jail through the courts, Senator Zafar said the former prime minister was facing the \u201cworst kind\u201d of human rights violations. He said the government and powers that be wanted to break Mr Khan while exerting pressure on him and his wife.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government will fail in its efforts to keep Imran Khan out of politics,\u201d he asserted.<\/p>\n
Answering a question about boycotting by-elections, Senator Zafar said holding by-elections was illegal until the disqualification was upheld by the Supreme Court. He said the PTI would approach courts against the by-elections. It may be noted that several PTI leaders were disqualified following their conviction in the May 9 cases.<\/p>\n
\u2018Politics of chaos\u2019<\/p>\n
On the other hand, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari said people would reject the Aug 5 protest call.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe politics of chaos will be rejected and defeated by the people. The PTI is no longer a political party but it has become a fascist group determined to damage the state institutions and disrupt national unity,\u201d Ms Bokhari said during a presser in Lahore on Monday. The minister claimed that the person who raised slogans of \u2019Haqiqi Azadi (real freedom) was the same individual whose $18 million advertisement was published in the United States.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis man once begged for freedom from America, and now his sons are repeating the same narrative,\u201d said the minister. It may be noted that the PTI had said Imran Khan\u2019s sons would also arrive in Pakistan to join the movement. The minister said on August 5, when the nation would be expressing solidarity with Kashmiris, the PTI\u2019s protest call was \u201chighly regrettable\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u2022 Power shows planned in Lahore, Rawalpindi; party claims several workers arrested \u2022 Asad Qaiser says this isn\u2019t \u2018final call\u2019; protest to continue till govt\u2019s ouster \u2022 Ali Zafar says door to dialogue closed, but \u2018decisions can change\u2019 \u2022 Azma hopes people will reject \u2018politics of chaos\u2019 ISLAMABAD\/LAHORE: Amid claims of a crackdown by the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11172,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11171"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11173,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11171\/revisions\/11173"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}