PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s senior leader and former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser said on Tuesday that they were in contact with Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman regarding the launch of a joint movement against the government.

Talking to reporters on the premises of the Peshawar High Court here, he said that political parties should unite against the ‘fascist’ government.

Mr Qaiser said that instead of arresting the deteriorating law and order situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces, the federal government was ‘spending’ all its energies on ‘suppressing’ the PTI. “Instead of going after terrorists, the federal government is going after PTI,” he added.

He asked the federal government to avoid declaring politicians as terrorists.

Mr Qaiser said that an event would be held in Peshawar’s Bagh Naran on December 15 to remember those who lost their lives in the Islamabad protest. He alleged that direct fire was opened on unarmed protesters in the federal capital. Besides, he reiterated that PTI’s mandate was stolen in the last general election. He demanded immediate release of all the political prisoners, and said that the “maltreatment” of Pakhtuns in Islamabad and Punjab was a conspiracy against the country.

On the occasion, MNA Sher Ali Arbab said that 200 PTI workers were still missing. He said that they would not tolerate such ‘maltreatment’ of Pakhtuns.

MNA Shandana Gulzar Khan was also present on the occasion.

Published in Dawn, December 11th, 2024