Pakistan News: Senior leaders of former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), were arrested by police on Monday, September 9, outside Parliament following a session of the National Assembly.
Speaking about the arrests, police spokesperson Jawad Taqi said that PTI party leaders Advocate Gohar Ali Khan, Sher Afzal Khan Marwat and Advocate Shoaib Shaheen were arrested by Islamabad Police, Dawn quoted him as saying.
Marwat was reportedly the first to be detained. Referring to his arrest, the PTI said in a message on X that “the PMLN government should be completely ashamed of this move against a sitting MP.” “This should be considered a direct attack on democracy.”
The party accused the capital’s police of carrying out “illegal orders” and asked the Inspector General (IG) of Police in Islamabad to “stop this act.”
Marwat was arrested for violating rules made under a new law, the Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Act, 2024, sources told Geo News. The sources further indicated that the PTI lawmaker was accused of clashing with police personnel a day earlier.
In another article published in X, the PTI condemned the “illegal” arrest of party chairman Barrister Gohar. “This is a moment of shame for the entire parliament as it must be seen as a direct attack on the remaining democracy in Pakistan. “The Speaker of the National Assembly should be ashamed for allowing such disrespect to the parliament. Pakistan has further slipped into undeclared martial law,” the article said.
A post on Marwat’s X account read: “The state has once again shown how much it is afraid of (Imran) Khan and his soldiers!” “Remember that the person you are dragging so badly is not a terrorist or a murderer. His only sin is that he considers Imran Khan his mentor, he raises his voice for the poor, he raises his voice for Pakistan, he speaks of the supremacy of democracy, freedom of Pakistanis and the rule of law.” Omar Ayub Khan, the opposition leader, condemned the arrests and said that the Islamabad police had formed teams to arrest him, PTI leader Zartaj Gul Wazir and “other colleagues”.
“This fascist regime and its supporters have gone completely mad,” Omar wrote in a post on X. “I have just come to know that they have included my name along with Zartaj Gul sahiba and other colleagues in two additional FIRs. Islamabad police teams have been formed for our arrests.” She added that other PTI lawmakers were still inside Parliament, unable to leave due to the police presence.
“Our only crime is that we dared to challenge the status quo and raised our voice in defence of our beloved leader, Prime Minister Imran Khan Sahib. We will continue to do so,” he added.
Imran Khan, 71, faces a number of legal cases and has been in prison for nearly a year after being sentenced in a corruption case.
The former cricketer-turned-politician was arrested on August 5 last year after being convicted in the first Toshakhana corruption case filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan. Since then, he has been in jail for different charges.
The arrests drew criticism from the PTI. Imran Khan-led party leader Zulfi Bukhari strongly condemned the arrests and demanded that the leaders be released immediately. “It has been more than a year now and they are still using the same tactics that have failed time and again,” he said in a statement on X.
“These illegal arrests will not change anything. They will only increase the anger and hatred of the people towards this puppet government and its supporters.” Apart from Omar and Zartaj, other PTI leaders including Hammad Azhar, Kanwal Shauzab, Naeem Haider Panjutha, Amir Mughal and Khalid Khursheed are likely to be arrested.
(With PTI inputs)
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