QUETTA: Like other parts of the country, workers of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), including female supporters, staged a protest in Quetta on Friday against alleged rigging in the February 8 general elections and the arrest of party’s founder Imran Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

A large number of party workers, led by acting president of PTI Balochistan Khurshid Kakar, provincial vice president Sardar Khadim Hussain Wardag, Noor Khan Khilji, and others, gathered at the lawns of Quetta Metropolitan Corporation to take out a rally. However, police did not allow the rally due to the imposition of Section 144 in the city.

Later, the party workers and supporters, carrying party flags and placards, gathered in front of Quetta Press Club, where they chanted slogans against the government and demanded the immediate release of Mr Khan and Mr Qureshi, who, according to PTI supporters, were “unjustly sentenced in fake cases”.

During the event, party leaders including Asif Tareen, former MNA, Munawara Munir, Mahwah, and others, said that the current rulers are so afraid of PTI that they see PTI even in their dreams at night.

Demands release of Imran, Qureshi; rally staged despite ban on gatherings

They emphasised that in the general elections, the people of Pakistan voted for PTI’s candidates, echoing PTI Chairman’s call, but through rigging and violence, PTI’s mandate was “snatched away”, insulting the people’s votes. They expressed that the people did not accept governments with fake mandates. Such a government cannot save the country from the current crises but instead complicates the lives of the poor people due to the wrong policies of the current rulers, they added.

They demanded that false cases against PTI chairman and other leaders be immediately dismissed, and they be released with dignity.

The PTI leadership cannot be intimidated by false cases; their spirits are high, and by the grace of Allah, the day is not far when Mr Khan and other leaders will be acquitted of “false cases” with honour.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2024