ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party Pakistan Tehrreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has called for nationwide ‘shutdown’ on Wednesday against his arrest, the Dawn reported. The PTI leadership has fiercely denounced Imran Khan’s arrest and urged people to protest the “rising fascism” by taking to the streets, warning that a “make-or-break moment” was drawing near.
Party vice-chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi has called a meeting of the “emergency committee” hours after Imran Khan’s arrest, including Senators Saifullah Khan, Azam Swati and Ejaz Chaudhry, as well as senior PTI figures Murad Saeed, Ali Amin Khan Gandapur and Hassan Niazi, to assess the situation from all angles and present a thorough action plan, Dawn reported.
PTI workers held protests in cities across Pakistan including Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Karachi, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Multan, Peshawar and Mardan, reported Geo News. In Karachi, demonstrators clashed with the police near Nursery. They pelted stones at police vehicles and tore down street lights.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior vice-president Fawad Chaudhry said the party will approach the Supreme Court on Wednesday to challenge the Islamabad High Court’s upholding of party chairman Imran Khan’s arrest. Fawad Chaudhry termed Islamabad High Court’s decision “surprising.”
Following Khan’s arrest, protesters clashed with the police near Nursery in Karachi. They pelted stones at police vehicles and tore down street lights. There were reports that police fired teargas shells at the protesters.
PTI supporters chanted slogans “Release Imran Khan,” and “Shut down Pakistan,” in the streets of Lahore, Faizabad, Bannu, and Peshawar. One Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) worker was killed and six others were injured on Tuesday in a firing incident at a protest rally in Quetta, The Express Tribune reported.
Supporters of former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan blocked the main Quetta Airport Road to protest against his arrest. A firing incident took place in the PTI rally, The Express Tribune reported citing a senior police officer who requested anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Imran Khan was arrested outside Islamabad High Court by Rangers on the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) warrant in the Al-Qadir Trust case. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had started an investigation against Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi and others for the alleged gain of hundreds of canals of land in the name of Al Qadir University Trust, which reportedly caused a loss of 190 million pounds to the national exchequer. (ANI)