Dozens of people were injured in police clashes with supporters of Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan. Activists of Imran Khan’s party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its supporters staged a peaceful protest in Rawalpindi on Saturday when the police used force to disperse them.
President of PTI’s Islamabad branch Amir told the media, “We were protesting peacefully. Even then the police used force to disperse our workers.
According to local media reports, several activists were injured by police tear gas and many were arrested.
The protesters were wearing tricolor caps and waving party flags and chanting slogans like ‘Long live Imran Khan’, ‘Free Imran Khan’ and ‘Mani Na Mana Na Mana’.
Videos circulating on social media showed protesters pelting stones at the police as they were barricaded and police fired tear gas to disperse them.
The PTI has alleged that it announced a peaceful protest on September 28 due to the government’s pretext and late permission to hold a rally at Liaquat Bagh.
But before the arrival of the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police clashed with agitated protesters. The Chief Minister was leading a procession and was going to join the protest.
PTI also complained that the car of PTI Interim Chairman Barrister Gowhar Khan and Secretary General Barrister Salman Akram Raja was stopped by the Islamabad Police. Which is the cowardly behavior of the current fascist government supported by the army.
On the other hand, Punjab provincial government spokesperson Azma Bokhari blamed PTI and said, “They are staging this protest to destabilize the law and order situation in the city”.
Imran Khan is currently lodged in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail and is facing bail applications in multiple cases ranging from corruption to terrorism. However, he denied these allegations.
The court has already quashed the sentence in two of his three cases and suspended the third.
It should be noted that Imran Khan was removed from the post of Prime Minister through a no-confidence vote in April 2022. Source: Anadolu Agency
