The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) staged a three-hour symbolic hunger strike outside Parliament House on Tuesday. The purpose of this peaceful protest was to urge the National Assembly speaker to intervene in response to what the party perceived as unjust actions against it and its leaders. The recent events, including the imprisonment of former prime minister Imran Khan, who had hinted at a hunger strike if justice was denied, prompted this movement.
The situation escalated when the police and the Federal Investigation Agency raided PTI’s Central Office, leading to the arrest of the party’s information secretary, Raoof Hasan. The PTI alleged that its lawmakers were being coerced with bribes or threatened with legal action. In response to these serious allegations, PTI leaders Asad Qaiser, Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, and Ali Muhammad Khan, among others, staged a symbolic hunger strike outside Parliament.
During a media interaction, Asad Qaiser emphasized that the party had initiated a local protest as a symbolic hunger strike in response to what they perceived as victimization. He stressed the PTI’s commitment to peaceful protest, reiterating that while they did not want to disrupt the country’s law and order, the ongoing campaign against them, pressure on their members of the National Assembly (MNAs), and the alleged offers being made to influence their loyalty left them with no alternative but to hold the protest.
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Barrister Gohar Ali Khan emphasized that as parliamentarians, they had the right to express their dissent within the Parliament premises. He stressed their commitment to upholding the law and the constitution, despite their reservations regarding certain parliamentary positions. The protest, he announced, was a means to uphold these principles and to voice their stance against perceived injustices and unconstitutional actions.
The PTI leaders asserted that their protest was not just in support of Imran Khan but also against the alleged victimization of PTI members, inflation, and the disturbance of peace in the country. The situation further intensified with the Federal Investigation Agency obtaining a two-day physical remand for Raoof Hasan and other apprehended PTI leaders to aid their investigation. Additionally, the Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation sealed the PTI’s central secretariat for purportedly lacking fire and life safety standards and measures.
