2024-09-10 14:47:29
Islamabad: Jailed former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party ‘Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’ (PTI) on Sunday staged a show of strength and demanded the immediate release of its leader. Meanwhile, the police fired tear gas shells to disperse the crowd, for which the party criticized the government. The rally was held at a ground near Sangjani Cattle Market in the suburbs after the Islamabad district administration issued a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for the rally.
Imran’s support base still remains intact
Thousands of PTI supporters attended the rally, proving that the party’s base remains intact despite all odds, including the imprisonment of its 71-year-old founder Khan. Imran was arrested on August 5 last year after being convicted in the Toshakhana corruption case. Since then, he has been in jail in different cases. Imran has completed 400 days in jail.
Supporters clash with police
According to the NOC, the rally was to end at 7 pm (local time). Soon after the deadline, the district administration directed the police to take action against those involved in the rally for not following the NOC. Authorities said the organisers violated the rules by not ending the event before the deadline. In response to this action, PTI workers started pelting stones at the police, in which several security personnel, including Senior Superintendent of Police Shoaib Khan, were injured.
Government machinery could not stop the supporters
“The government had put in place a strategy to limit the number of people attending the PTI rally through road blockades and containers, and despite the risk of violent repression and arrests, the rally turned out to be huge. The size of the crowd and the popularity of the party ensure that its ability to mobilise people remains intact despite the relentless efforts to contain it,” South Asian affairs expert Michael Kugelman wrote on X.
Demand for immediate release of Imran Khan
Several PTI leaders addressed the gathering and demanded Khan’s immediate release. PTI leader in the National Assembly, Umar Ayub Khan, said the party will not sit quiet until Khan is released. “We are soldiers of Imran Khan and we will not sit quiet until he is released,” he said. He said Khan would be with his supporters soon. He condemned the barricades erected on roads to restrict the movement of rally participants and announced that the PTI would now hold rallies across the country.
Imran Khan’s party got the most seats in the elections
This was the PTI’s first major rally in Islamabad after the February 8 elections. The party wants to pressurize the government to release Imran, who is in jail despite being granted bail or acquitted by the courts in all the cases in which he was convicted. PTI Chairman Gauhar Ali Khan said that the government turned the city into a cage, but still thousands of people attended the rally. He said, “This shows that Imran Khan is a leader and will always remain a leader.”