Islamabad, November 13: Imran Khan, former Pakistan Prime Minister and founder of the Tehreek-e-Insaf party, has called on his party officials and supporters to prepare for a “massive” anti-government long march and demonstration in the capital Islamabad on November 24.
Aleema, Khan’s sister, made the statement after meeting the leader in Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail on Wednesday. Speaking to the journalists from outside the jail, Aleema said that Imran Khan has made a “final call” to all his supporters distributed around the country, calling them to congregate in Islamabad to oppose the government.
On February 8, you started a revolution and went to the streets to exercise your constitutional rights.
You seized authority from the elite and rose to power. But the entire mandate was taken,” she explained. “Imran Khan expressed his dissatisfaction with the stealing of votes and their handing over to a select few.
Imran Khan is also concerned about the loss of judicial independence. “The Supreme Court’s freedom has been taken away,” she continued.Khan’s lawyer, Faisal Chaudhry, claimed that the former Prime Minister has formed a committee to arrange the announced march to Islamabad on November 24.
He stated that Islamabad will be the focal focus of the November 24 protest, with rallies, protests, and meetings planned in all major cities across Pakistan.
“The protest will continue until our demands are met,” he told us. Among the primary demands of PTI and Imran Khan are the restoration of the PTI mandate obtained after the February 8 elections, the reversal of the 26th Constitutional Amendment, and the release of all PTI members and supporters who have been incarcerated without charge since the May 9, 2023 riots.
The government, on the other side, has vowed not to allow the PTI to conduct a rally in the capital, Islamabad. In the past, government agencies have blocked roads, imprisoned party leaders, and sent the military to safeguard the capital before of any significant gathering.
Punjab’s provincial administration has also utilised its power to prevent the PTI from acquiring electoral traction and expanding its reach outside Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
However, experts are sceptical that the proposed demonstration will be successful.
Imran Khan has previously made various protest-related announcements. However, his party members, particularly KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, who is in charge of such events, have not been able to walk the talk and have consistently failed to generate enough public pressure to put the government on the defensive,” said political analyst Baig Raj. “Gandapur, Khan’s superman, has ended up pleading with the military establishment to spare him after failing to cross the border from KP into Islamabad and Punjab.
” I don’t see him doing anything differently this time. The PTI leadership is quite weak, and individuals who support the party will only show up in large numbers if such protests are led by Imran Khan himself.
Other than Khan, they do not trust a single leader in the party,” added Baig Raj.–
