The defense minister on Wednesday said that Pakistan is contemplating banning the political party of former Prime Minister Imran Khan in the recent row over the attack on the state.
Image: Imran Khan at the time of getting removed from the party after a no-confidence vote in April 2022
Source: PTI
Behind the scenes of the political fiasco:
On May 9, Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan was arrested for inciting a violent protest by his supporters over the state and the response to this protest by the government was equally violent.
Imran Khan was arrested for taking a bribe in a land allotment case in millions in dollars from Malik Riaz Husain.
The paramilitary forces entered the premises and dragged the former prime minister to the vehicle while he was for biometric verification at Islamabad High Court.
The political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf began its violent turns of actions from there. There was an attack that involved setting fire and destroying the Corps Commander House located in Lahore which is a historically significant bastion. Videos emerged showing the protestors stealing items like golf kits, salad, frozen fruits, pet peacocks, etc. A dummy model of aircraft outside the Pakistan Air Force base was set ablaze; ambulances, public buses, and police vans were vandalized. The death toll was computed to be 10 in the clashes.
The police arrested multiple leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. Former ministers such as Shah Mahmood Qureshi(Foreign Minister), Asad Umar(Finance Minister), Fawad Chaudhry(Information Minister), Shireen Mazari(Minister of Human Rights), and Ali Zaidi(Maritime Affairs Minister). They were arrested under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance which gives the authority to arrest and detain without legal redress for up to three months.
The police got fierce and physical with the protestors too which included women. The police allegedly harassed women and journalists.
The government blocked the social media platforms to stop the apparent misformation being spread by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.
Current situation about the ban on the party:
Khwaja Asif, the defense minister, said that Imran Khan’s party attacked what is considered to be the basis of the state and it won’t be tolerated. He added that the ban is under consideration and the final approval would have to be given by the parliament.
He claimed that the attacks across the country were pre-planned by Imran Khan and there is a lot of evidence to support the claim; the attack in Sialkot of entering into the Cantonment was repulsed. He also quoted that the PTI people are openly saying that they were informed and briefed about it prior.
Adding to it, the defense minister said that Imran Khan didn’t condemn this act of violence by his party and dismissed it by saying that since he was in custody, he didn’t know and such reaction was expected and it will happen again if he gets arrested.
Imran Khan’s party lawyer Barrister Ali Zafar eradicated the possibilities around the ban of the party, mentioning that political parties cannot be banned. He quoted a precedent, of the Supreme Court’s ruling on not banning a political party when an attempt to ban Jamaat-e-Islami was made and the court said that political party creation is a basic right for everybody, replying to a question in media talk.
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan is supposed to address the nation at 7:00 P.M. on May 24.
