Imran forms committee for party affairs amid potential arrest,

Protests erupt in major cities after PTI workers, police lock horns over Imran’s arrest,

 

LAHORE –Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan told foreign media that he is mentally prepared to get arrested tonight.

While talking to Al-Jazeera, Imran Khan said that he has secured protective bail from the court till March 1 but police reached to arrest him four days before the hearing. He questioned the legality of the police raid with an arrest warrant before the expiry of his protective bail.

Khan said that his lawyers are waiting to appear before the court on Wednesday morning where they will challenge the arrest warrant. He added that they can stage peaceful protests in accordance with the law and the Constitution.

In connection with his potential arrest, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan formed a committee on Tuesday to handle the party affairs in his absence.

The six-member emergency committee will handle the party matters in connection with the potential arrest of Mr Khan.

The deposed premier had given the approval to form the committee. Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Saifullah Khan Niazi, Azam, Ejaz Chaudhry, Murad Saeed, and Ali Amin Gandapur were included in the emergency committee.

Earlier today, Mr Khan in a short address to people said the police had arrived at his residence to arrest him. “They think that my arrest will snooze the public but you have to prove them wrong”, he added. He was fighting for the people, he said, as he had always done. He maintained that whether they arrested him or killed him, people had to continue the struggle.

Earlier, PTI leader Shibli Faraz said the PTI knew who led party

Speaking to the media outside the Islamabad High Court (IHC), he said it was a breach of the law when the capital police reached Lahore  for arresting Imran Khan adding that the party would continue fighting the court battle. “Police tortured PTI activists and lobbed teargas shells”, he added. The barbarism which started on May 25, he said, was not settling.

He said thieves were imposed on us, adding that they were following the agenda of arresting Mr Khan and avoiding elections only. “Popular leaders are killed and Mr Khan is Pakistan’s most beloved leader”, he added. Thieves got Mr Khan attacked at Wazirabad, he continued. When a large party was not given its due right in 1971, he said, the country suffered a major blow.

He went on to say that we had to get rid of such rulers, adding that we had to make sure elections were held within 30 days. “We are initiating an inquiry to proceed KP Governor Haji Ghulam Ali under Article 6 of the constitution”, he added. KP governor’s appointment, he said, downgraded the office.

Reiterating Mr Khan’s call for the public to come out, he said the country’s most popular party was being targeted, adding that the country could not function that way. “People have to get out to struggle for themselves”, he added. Mr Khan was fighting for you, he said, and if you did not participate in it, the country would have no future.

Earlier, (PTI) on Tuesday night called off protests in some places it had started after clashes broke out between the capital police and PTI activists amid fears of possible arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan with intermittent clashes going on between protestors and the police in Lahore.

Earlier, protests erupted in various parts of the country including Karachi, Peshawar, Islamabad, Multan, Wazirabad, Khanpur, Karak, and others.However, former defence minister Pervaiz Khattak called off the protests in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and asked the protestors to guard Mr Khan’s residence in Lahore. On the other hand, PTI Karachi leader Aftab Siddiqui asked the protestors to hold off demonstrations. Mr Siddiqui claimed that almost 20 PTI protestors were arrested in Karachi and they were shot at in different areas of the city.

Meanwhile, sources said Punjab interim chief minister Mohsin Naqvi summoned an emergency security meeting at 12am (Wednesday) to overview the security situation in the provincial capital. Police, Rangers, and other security officials would participate in the meeting, sources added.

PTI chief, talking to international media while keeping teargas shells lobbed by the police at his house in front of him, said people were afraid that the police might harm him after arresting him. “These shells were hurled at my house, just imagine what the number of shells would be outside my house”, he added. In Karachi, the PTI workers staged protests in several areas including Orangi Town, Hussain Square, Sohrab Goth and Shaheen Complex. Due to the protests, the main roads of the Sindh’s capital were closed for traffic.In the Tarnol area of the federal capital, the PTI workers closed GT Road due to which the police officers were being summoned. The police made it clear that the PTI would not be allowed to stage protests in any of the areas in Islamabad. The PTI supporters also headed to Committee Chowk to stage their protest and chanted slogans against the government. The PTI workers also poured onto streets in Multan, Khanpur, Wazirabad, Karak and other places to protest the potential arrest of Mr Khan.