Daily Times

Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan Monday issued a call for peaceful protests against a ‘threat’ to the sanctity of the Supreme Court and the Constitution of Pakistan.

“All citizens be ready for peaceful protests as once again Constitution and SC destroyed, it is the end of the Pak dream,” he said, taking to Twitter. The former prime minister condemned the arrests of PTI workers and protestors in the aftermath of his arrest and subsequent rioting last week.

“So without any investigation into who was responsible for arson on government building or dozens of deaths of unarmed protesters by bullet wounds, around 7,000 PTI workers, leadership and our women have been jailed with plans to ban the largest and only federal party in Pak,” said Imran. The deposed prime minister has further called out the country’s security forces for colluding with the federal government in what he described as subversion of the Constitution. “Meanwhile these goons are being facilitated by our security agencies to take over the SC and subvert the Constitution,” the former premier said as he shared clips of people climbing over a gate and entering the Red Zone at the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) protest outside the Supreme Court.

Imran Khan accused the ruling alliance of arresting him again, claiming that they will “use some sedition law to keep him inside for next 10 years under the London Plan. The former prime minister further claimed that the Shehbaz Sharif-led government also plans to humiliate him by putting his wife Bushra Bibi in jail. The former premier – whose senior party leadership is behind bars after violent protests that erupted following his arrest from court premises – accused the authorities concerned of violating basic human rights. “Never has the sanctity of chadar and chaar dewaari been violated the way it is being done by these criminals. This is a deliberate attempt to instill so much fear in people that when they come to arrest me tomorrow, people won’t come out.”

The government has launched a massive crackdown against the party and arrested several senior leaders, including Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Asad Umar, Fawad Chaudhry, Mussarat Cheema, Shireen Mazari, etc. Referring to the incidents, Imran Khan said: “Then will follow a complete crackdown on whatever is left of PTI leadership and workers. And finally, they will ban the largest and only federal party of Pakistan.” “To ensure there’s no public relation, they have done two things, first deliberate terror is unleashed not just on PTI workers but on common citizens as well. Second, the media is totally controlled and muzzled,” he said.