PTI leaders vow to continue campaign for Imran Khan’s release

MUZAFFARABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leaders on Saturday criticised what they described as political discrimination in the country and said their protest campaign for the release of incarcerated party founder Imran Khan would continue.

The gathering was held at Upper Adda, also known as Lal Chowk, where supporters from different parts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir assembled in large numbers. Participants waved PTI, Kashmiri and Pakistani flags and raised slogans in support of Imran Khan.

The rally was addressed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Khan Afridi, who also waved the AJK flag from the stage. With elections drawing near, he urged supporters to vote for Imran Khan and also to protect that vote.

Mr Afridi referred to his announcement made on the 19th, saying the next phase of PTI’s street movement would begin in Kashmir. He criticised the ruling arrangements in Pakistan and AJK, alleging undemocratic and unethical conduct, and accused the authorities of creating hurdles for political activity, including by blocking roads on the day of the rally.

He said Imran Khan had raised the issues of Kashmir, Pakistan and Palestine at international forums and was now unjustly imprisoned along with his wife Bushra Bibi. Mr Afridi said he had pursued constitutional, legal and democratic channels, but these efforts had not produced results.

He alleged that despite court permission, he had been prevented from meeting the PTI founder. "As many as three judges have granted me permission to meet my leader, but the superintendent of Adiala Jail tears up those orders and throws them into the dustbin," he said.

Warning against restrictions on political rights, the KP chief minister said PTI would protest if its rights were denied. "If our rights are usurped, we will come out and protest – the Constitution allows us to do so," he said.

He also announced that a major protest call would be issued soon and expressed confidence that people across the country would respond and help secure Imran Khan’s release.

Earlier, former AJK prime minister and PTI’s regional president Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi said Kashmiris had always stood by Imran Khan and would answer every protest call given by the party.

PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja and other local party leaders also addressed the rally.

Party reiterates protest line

The Muzaffarabad gathering marked another public show of support by PTI leaders for the jailed former prime minister. Speakers at the event repeated their demand for his immediate release and linked the party’s future mobilisation to what they described as the denial of political rights.

At the rally, the leadership also sought to connect the upcoming electoral process with the party’s broader protest campaign, urging supporters not only to cast their votes but to safeguard them as well.