Over 100 activists of Pakistan Tehreek e-Insaf (PTI) party have been arrested for staging rallies across Punjab province to demand jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s release and condemn the toppling of his government three years ago, police said on Friday.
PTI’s Punjab chief organiser Aliya Hamza Malik said despite all hurdles and clampdown on the PTI, Khan supporters managed to come out on the roads to express solidarity with him and protest against the change of his government through a local and foreign conspiracy.
“Over 100 PTI leaders, workers, and supporters have been arrested by police on different pickets on the respective rallies’ routes on Thursday,” Malik said.
The PTI founder’s government was toppled on April 10, 2022, after the alliance of the then-opposition parties led by incumbent ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) tabled a no-confidence motion.
“We have not forgotten the regime change operation in Pakistan. We continue standing loyal to Imran Khan,” Malik said, adding that Khan was ousted through a “foreign and internal conspiracy orchestrated on the night of April 10, 2022”.
She said the puppet government illegally incarcerated Khan and that PTI workers would not rest till his release.
PTI workers carrying posters and placards bearing Imran Khan’s pictures and party flags demanded immediate release of Khan, 72, from jail.
Cricketer-turned-politician Khan has been in jail since August 2023 in multiple cases.
