ISLAMABAD - Demanding an immediate access to the jailed party leader Imran Khan, the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Friday announced to hold another protest demonstration at Islamabad’s D-Chowk on October 15, the day when Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit will formally kick off in the capital.
The decision was taken at an emergency meeting of the PTI’s Political Committee hours after the Islamabad High Court rejected a plea of the ex-premier’s sister for her immediate meeting with his jailed brother.
Citing security threats, the Punjab government has already imposed a ban on all meetings, from October 5 to 18, in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail where PTI chief Khan is incarcerated.
PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram in an announcement said that all party office bearers from centre to grassroots have been instructed to give a final shape to their arrangements for a demonstration in Islamabad.
Already planned protests throughout Punjab have been postponed due to the call for a ‘peaceful’ protest at the D-Chowk, he added.
The pronouncement can be troublesome for the federal government as it has made strict security arrangements for the 23rd SCO Summit scheduled to be held on October 15 and 16. Rawalpindi and Islamabad will observe a three-day local holiday for the smooth conduct of the international moot.
PTI Information Secretary Akram underlined that they have had no option other than protest, if the government didn’t give immediate access of doctors, family members, lawyers and party leaders to the jailed leader Khan.
He said the PTI founder’s life and health are under threat due to the government’s actions, which have deprived him of his basic human rights.
The Political Committee demanded an end to ‘unlawful’ raids and arrests of PTI workers and lawmakers by the federal and Punjab governments. It called for the release of all workers, citizens, party office bearers and members of the Punjab Assembly who have been detained by the Punjab government.
The PTI information secretary also said the rulers who have allegedly stolen public mandate and have no regard for rule of law were not ready to back down from its ongoing “oppression and tyranny” against the party.