PTI to hold march on Islamabad despite arrests — Dawn
In Pakistan, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said it would hold a protest march to Islamabad on September 27 despite the detention of its lawmakers and supporters in different parts of the country. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi said that PTI’s parliamentary committee had decided to exercise its right to peaceful protest.
As Dawn reports, Afridi said that the detention of the sisters of PTI founder Imran Khan, the shooting at cabinet minister Shakeel Khan, and the alleged abduction of Labour Minister Fazal Shakoor Khan were intended to disrupt the action. According to him, men in plain clothes allegedly attacked Shakoor Khan and abducted him. Afridi also mentioned reports of an attempted abduction of Communications Minister Shakeel Khan in Batkhela.
Statements by PTI leadership
PTI’s interim chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said that authorities had detained 1,500 party supporters. According to him, those detained include five members of the National Assembly, a former senator, members of provincial assemblies, and ministers in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government.
Gohar Ali Khan stressed that PTI does not seek violence or clashes and wants to resolve disagreements through political means. He denied that the party intended to attack Islamabad and said details of the planned protest would be announced on September 25.
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PTI also condemned the detention of its lawmakers at the Parliament Lodges and near the National Assembly building in Islamabad and demanded their release. The party reported the detention of National Assembly members Sanaullah Khan Mastikhel, Dawar Khan Kundi, Ahsan Jamal Khan, Mian Ghaus, and Adil Khan Bazai, as well as provincial assembly member Fatehullah Mulk from Chitral.
Anti-terrorism court ruling
An Islamabad anti-terrorism court remanded two PTI members in police custody for 10 days in a case related to the party’s November 26 protest. Police had requested 30 days for questioning, but Judge Abul Hasnat Muhammad Zulqarnain granted the request in part.
Another anti-terrorism court judge, Tahir Abbas Sipra, ordered five PTI activists sent to Adiala Jail for an identification procedure in a case concerning the February 15 protest on Constitution Avenue. In the same case, the court ordered 14 days of judicial remand for Rana Shahbaz, head of the Islamabad Handcart Vendors Association, for an identification procedure. Shahbaz’s relatives said he was not affiliated with PTI and had been detained because he defended vendors’ interests.
