Ex-PM warns of civil disobedience movement if demands not met

Incarcerated former prime minister and Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan has warned the government to launch a civil disobedience movement if his key demands are not met.

This comes after the apparent failure of the PTI’s “do-or-die” protest, which had aimed to secure his release and rally support for the party.

Imran Khan’s X account is being operated by a PTI activist, who is based in the United States.

Paramilitary soldiers stand guard at a blocked road leading towards the Red Zone area ahead of a protest rally by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in Islamabad. File/AFP

Posting on X late night, Imran Khan announced the formation of a five-member negotiation committee tasked with holding talks with the federal government on two key issues: the release of “political prisoners” currently facing trial and the establishment of a judicial commission to investigate the violent crackdown on PTI supporters during the May 9, 2023 protests and the Nov.26 crackdown on PTI protesters in Islamabad.

“If these two demands are not accepted, a civil disobedience movement will be launched from Dec.14,” he stated, warning that the government would be responsible for any consequences that arise from such a movement.

In addition to the political prisoners’ demand, he announced a “grand gathering” in Peshawar on December 13 to “pay homage to the martyrs” who, according to him, were killed during the Islamabad protests.

He claimed that many PTI workers are still missing and urged the Supreme Court to take action against the human rights violations he believes have occurred. “We approached the Supreme Court, Lahore and Islamabad high courts over serious violations of human rights, but no action was taken,” he added.

According to a media report, PTI leaders are upset over the alleged harsh attitude and growing interference of former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi and his sister Aleema Khan in the party affairs.

Supporters of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf attend a rally demanding their leader Imran Khan’s release in Swabi, Khyber Pakhtunkhawa province. File/Reuters

It said that some senior party leaders, on condition of not being named, said that the rude behaviour of the wife and sister of Imran Khan with them is on the rise.

The recent confrontation of Aleema Khan with PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and secretary general Suleman Akram Raja within the court premises in Adiala Jail Rawalpindi was just a reflection of the situation which the party leaders are faced with.

“Most of the PTI leaders have given extraordinary sacrifices, are named in dozens of first information reports [FIRs], faced jails, and lost their businesses but we are insulted,” a party leader said and added while reasons for resignations of Suleman Akram Raja and Sahibzada Raza have been reported by the media, there was a lot more that many leaders were experiencing but not known to the public.

A source said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur also finds himself in a very difficult situation. He said that a PTI senator from Punjab may also tell someday how he was ridiculed in front of all other leaders. In a recently leaked audio, party stalwart from KP Ali Muhammad Khan was heard saying in the PTI political committee that Bushra Bibi had disregarded the directive of Imran Khan and insisted on moving the protest march to the Red Zone of Islamabad. He had also criticised the decision to announce the November 24 protest through Aleema Khan, instead of senior party officials like its chairman or secretary general.

Vehicles use alternate way on road, which closed with shipping containers ahead of a planned rally by supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Nov. 23, 2024. AP

Shaukat Yousafzai, another PTI leader, had also expressed his anger in public as to why the protest march was not stopped at Sangjani. He also scoffed at the leadership for allowing non-political individuals to influence key decisions, adding, “Bushra Bibi is a non-political individual. Even if she was insistent, was the party leadership so weak to allow this?”

Many party leaders are also upset with the interviews of Bushra Bibi’s sister, Maryam, who is based in a Gulf country, and her spokesperson. In an exclusive interview with The Guardian, Bushra Bibi’s spokesperson, Mashal Yousafzai, recently said that Imran Khan places his full trust in his wife, believing that his party leadership is compromised and working against him.

According to the PTI sources, while Aleema Khan is asking the party leaders to give exaggerated figures of the deaths relating to Nov 24 protest, Bushra Bibi is directly contacting party MPs in KP.