PTI condemns alleged crackdown after 'countrywide protests'

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf on Saturday criticised the government over what it described as a crackdown following protests held in different parts of the country a day earlier, and called for the release of party workers taken into custody.

In a statement, PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram said a large number of party supporters came out on Friday despite what he alleged were obstacles created by the government. He accused the authorities of carrying out pre-dawn raids, registering false cases and deploying heavy police presence in an effort to prevent the demonstrations.

According to the PTI leader, the protests showed that public support for the party could not be suppressed through force. He also condemned the arrests made during the demonstrations and demanded the immediate and unconditional release of detained workers.

Referring to the scale of the protests, the party said it had managed to hold rallies in nearly all major cities, with Karachi being the exception.

PTI rejects government narrative

Sheikh Waqas Akram also rejected the government’s presentation of family meetings with PTI founder Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi as confidence-building steps. He described such meetings as a matter of constitutional entitlement rather than a concession by the authorities.

He further alleged that Imran Khan continued to face prolonged solitary confinement and medical neglect. The PTI statement said the party considered access to treatment and family visitation to be basic rights.

Support for budget boycott call

The PTI spokesperson also backed National Assembly Opposition Leader Mehmood Khan Achakzai’s call for a boycott of the budget session unless Imran Khan was provided treatment and his visitation rights were restored.

A day earlier, Achakzai, who heads the PTI-led opposition alliance, had warned that the opposition would stay away from the budget session if those demands were not met.

In the same statement, Sheikh Waqas Akram criticised the government’s handling of fuel prices. He said that after collecting more than Rs4.3 trillion through levies, the government was now expecting appreciation for what he termed a minimal return to the public.

The PTI leader said the party would continue its campaign with full intensity until what he called the restoration of the stolen mandate, the release of all political prisoners, and the provision of proper medical care and family access for Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi.

He also voiced anger over what he described as the mistreatment of peaceful humanitarian activists associated with the Global Sumud Flotilla.