LAHORE, May 19: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has again alleged that his party’s senior leader Zahra Shahid Hussain was killed at the behest of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and has urged his workers in Karachi to stand up against ‘oppression’ in the city.

Responding to the allegation, the MQM said that Mr Khan had hurled the accusation against it before investigation into the incident and announced that it would hold demonstrations across the world against the PTI.

In a video message released on Sunday from the Shaukat Khanum Hospital where he is recovering from injuries suffered in an accident during an election rally, the PTI chief said Zahra Shahid had been murdered at the behest of the MQM. He termed the incident part of its policy to control the city by spreading fear.

The elderly PTI leader, who was vice-president of the party’s Sindh chapter, was shot dead outside her home in Karachi on Saturday night.

Appealing to his party’s workers to take a stand against ‘brutalities’ and protest against the murder on Monday, Mr Khan also urged other parties and those who wanted an end to the era of oppression to join the demonstration and not to lose this opportunity.

He said had he been discharged from the hospital he himself would have led the protest in Karachi.

He said Zahra Shahid had not laid down her life without a cause and her sacrifice would not go in vain.

The PTI chairman also urged his party’s workers to join a sit-in being held outside the Election Commission offices in Islamabad in protest against alleged rigging in the May 11 elections.

Backtracking on his demand for re-polling, Mr Khan said he was not insisting on it for the sake of continuity of the democratic system.

He urged the chief justice of Pakistan and chief election commissioner to take notice of the killings and rigging and said the nation had pinned high hopes on the judiciary and the ECP for justice.