SWABI: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gand­a­pur has asked the PTI workers to prepare for a “do-or-die” agitation for the release of party founder Imran Khan.

While addressing a public meeting on Saturday, Mr Gandapur urged the party workers to wait for the final call, which he said would be given by the jailed leader this month.

The gathering, dubbed as ‘awami jirga’, was held at a service area on the Peshawar-Islamabad M1 Motorway, some 13km from Swabi city.

The meeting was earlier scheduled to be held in Peshawar, but the venue was changed as it was easily accessible to workers arriving from all over the country, according to PTI leaders.

KP chief minister vows not to return till PTI founder is out of prison

In his typical firebrand style, Mr Gandapur asked the workers to start preparations for the new movement.

“Let me convey a message from Imran Khan. Our leader told me that he would give a call for his release in November and that the workers should start preparation.”

Following the call, the workers will launch a movement which will end only with the release of Mr Khan, the KP CM said.

“The workers will not return home till the achievement of this sole objective.”

Mr Gandapur and other party leaders took an “oath” to fully comply with Mr Khan’s call and not return home without his release.

The party workers and leaders “should tell their families that their stay will be long and they might not come back till Mr Khan’s release”, the CM told the attendees.

He vowed to increase pressure on the federal government to release Mr Khan, who has been imprisoned since August 2023.

He warned the federal government to stop its actions against PTI leaders; otherwise, it would be “taught a befitting lesson”.

“The maltreatment of our leader [Mr Khan], who always remained peaceful, is unacceptable to us,” he remarked.

The CM called upon the party workers to be ready for an “ultimate sacrifice” for the release of Mr Khan.

He said peace overtures by the PTI were not reciprocated by the “fake” federal government and the incarceration of more leaders “would not be tolerated by PTI” anymore.

According to Mr Gandapur, the action against PTI leaders was being conducted under a “well-planned strategy” where they are implicated in “false cases”.

“They [PTI leaders] sought justice, always remained peaceful, and rendered tremendous sacrifices for people’s welfare,” he added.

He said there is no other option but agitation as the “whole of Pakistan is looking towards the PTI workers”.

Challenge to 26th amendment

The gathering was also attended by PTI’s central leaders, including Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Omar Ayub Khan, Asad Qaiser, Zartaj Gul Wazir, Hammad Azhar, lawmakers and provincial ministers.

Mr Gohar announced PTI will challenge the 26th Constitutional Amendment in the Supreme Court soon.

He claimed that PTI had “opposed” the amendments, which were made by the incumbent rulers “only for their own interest”.

He said that the 26th amendment has bulldozed the judiciary’s independence and destroyed people’s hope for getting justice.

He called on the people to also join PTI’s protest against the amendment.

In his address, Mr Ayub, the opposition leader in National Assembly, said the KP chief minister’s announcement “should be followed in letter and spirit by the PTI workers”.

He said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif were responsible for inflation and disorder.

Mr Qaiser, the former NA speaker, said the entire nation will have to come out and support PTI’s new line of action.

The recent constitutional amendments were “not acceptable to us,” he said, adding that the “attack” on KP House in Islamabad was, in fact, “an attack on the people of KP”.

Earlier this week, the provincial government decided to lodge an FIR against Islamabad police chief Ali Nasir Rizvi and 600 unidentified people under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, for “illegally raiding” the KP House in the federal capital.

During the rally in Swabi, the speeches of PTI’s incarcerated leader were also played on the big screen.

Other leaders who addressed the event included Mr Azhar, Ms Wazir, and MNAs Shahram Khan Tarakai and Sheikh Waqas Akram.

Published in Dawn, November 10th, 2024