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Over 1,000 arrested ahead of protest against ‘Asim Law’ in Pakistan, claims Imran Khan's party
Several leaders of Imran Khan’s party were preparing to hold a street protest across Punjab province with the sole aim of demanding the former PM’s release.
More than 1,000 supporters of jailed former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan were arrested on Friday ahead of his party’s massive protest against the ruling government in the country, a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader reportedly said.
The alleged arrests come ahead of PTI's planned protest against ‘Asim Law’ in the country, as referenced by Imran Khan in an appeal to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Sohail Afridi recently.
Khan, the 73-year-old founder of the PTI party, has been in jail since August 2023 and is facing several corruption cases.
Over 1,000 PTI workers ‘arrested’
Several leaders of Imran Khan’s party were preparing to hold a street protest across Punjab province with the sole aim of demanding the former PM’s release, a PTI report said.
However, ahead of the protest, the party has claimed that many workers were arrested and vehicles of leaders entering Lahore were stopped.
PTI leader Moeen Riaz Qureshi, also the opposition leader in the Punjab assembly, said in a statement, “In a crackdown on PTI workers in Lahore, police arrested more than 1,000 workers.”
He claimed that Punjab Police stopped vehicles of PTI supporters who were accompanying senior party leader and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Sohail Afridi.
He added, “Afridi has reached Lahore to start this fresh street movement against the government. However, Punjab Police stopped dozens of vehicles of PTI supporters from entering Lahore. They were accompanying Afridi.”
Police have also blocked entry and exit points to keep a check on PTI workers.
PTI’s nation-wide protest plan
Notably, Imran Khan’s party has tried at least twice to take to the streets nationwide. The latest plan for street protests came a day after the PTI founder and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were sentenced to 17 years each in jail by a court in the Toshakhana 2 corruption case.
Earlier this week, Khan had reportedly asked Afridi to launch the protest against ‘Asim Law’ through a post on X.
“My message for Sohail Afridi is to prepare for a street movement. The entire nation must rise for its rights. To strive for justice is a sacred duty, and I am ready to lay down my life for Haqeeqi Azadi (true freedom) of my nation,” he wrote.
Khan added that Pakistan is currently being ruled solely by ‘Asim Law’, a reference to chief of defence forces Field Marshal Asim Munir.
Speaking to the media, Afridi said that PTI workers were prevented from travelling to Lahore from several areas of Punjab. “Democratic governments do not do things like this,” he said.
Meanwhile, Punjab information minister Azma Bukhari welcomed Afridi to Lahore but said the government would not allow anyone to take the law into their own hands.
With inputs from agencies
