ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leaders welcomed the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) decision to grant bail to party chief Imran Khan in all cases and termed Friday a ‘historic day’.

Through various statements, the party leaders hailed the court’s decision and declared that truth had triumphed.

They claimed that the PDM government had falsely implicated Mr Khan in fabricated cases after failing to find any corruption case against him.

The government should refrain from engaging in any unlawful actions against the PTI chief, they said.

In a special message to the workers on Friday, former Sindh governor Imran Ismail said it was a great day as the truth emerged triumphant.

Ask govt to refrain from taking any unlawful action against PTI chief

Mr Ismail requested people to join the former prime minister on his journey to Lahore. He also urged party workers to gather at the Islamabad toll plaza to welcome their leader warmly.

Farrukh Habib, PTI’s central information secretary, also urged party workers and supporters to join Mr Khan on the journey from Islamabad to Lahore.

He said party workers and supporters would also be present with their leader at Mr Khan’s Zaman Park residence in Lahore.

He said it was a need of the hour to make a foolproof security arrangement for the former prime minister, adding that the “fascist regime” should refrain from engaging in any illegal action.

He advised the government to stop “spreading chaos and anarchy in the country anymore”.

Mr Habib said the government’s all plots and tricks had failed, as the IHC even barred the police from arresting Mr Khan under sections 3 and 16 of the Maintenance of Public Order.

Another PTI leader, Dr Iftikhar Durrani, urged party supporters to continue their peaceful protests until Mr Khan reached a safe and secure location.

In a statement, he said all PTI organisations would offer funeral prayers in absentia for workers and supporters killed during violent protests that erupted after Mr Khan’s arrest on Tuesday.

PTI leader Dr Shahbaz Gill said it was now the time to pay tribute to those who lost their lives in the fight against this “cabal of thieves” to get Imran Khan released from the “illegal detention”.

He urged PTI workers and supporters to remain vigilant, as the “gang of thieves could arrest Mr Khan in any other fake and fabricated case, as a plan to re-arrest him in a new case was prepared”.

It was a decisive phase in the country’s history, he said, urging party supporters to continue peaceful protests.

Mr Gill said the “imported government” had no strategy other than imposing an emergency and shutting down the internet service.

Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2023