ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi has announced that the party will challenge the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) decision to term Imran Khan’s arrest by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) “legal” before the Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday (today).
Following Imran Khan’s arrest on Tuesday inside the IHC, Shah Mehmood summoned an emergency meeting of the seven-member committee to review the circumstances and devise an all-inclusive strategy to secure the safe and early release of the party chief.
Shah Mehmood interacted with the committee members including Senators Saifullah Khan Niazi, Ijaz Chaudhry, Azam Swati, Ali Amin Khan Gandapur, Murad Saeed and Hassan Niazi.
According to the party’s Central Media Department, Shah Mehmood said that a meeting of the senior leadership of the PTI and the emergency committee has been convened to review the current situation and announce a comprehensive action plan. He said Imran’s arrest was wholly unjustified and unacceptable. Shah Mehmood maintained that the demand for Imran’s release was reasonable and legitimate.
Terming the Al-Qadir Trust case a “dirty political case” and a “revenge plot,” the PTI vice-chairman asserted: “We’ll fight it politically and legally.”
He further said that the PTI would hold peaceful but vigorous protests across the country to ensure the release of its chairman at the earliest.
He also contended that the IHC was raided to arrest Imran Khan.
“The arrest of Imran Khan is fascism, and it is condemnable to attack the Islamabad High Court during his biometrics verification that led to injuries to lawyers,” he said and appealed to the IHC chief justice to issue an order for his immediate recovery and appearance in the court.
Shah Mehmood said that the entire nation was deeply concerned about the health and safety of Khan.
He said, “There is much anger in the public against the abduction and torture of Imran Khan, and the PTI will register its protest without taking the law into its own hands. We’ll fight this battle through political and legal means for the safe recovery and release of the chairman.”
Shah Mehmood made it clear that the schedule of the rallies announced by Khan earlier was intact.
He said, “We’re turning all these things into peaceful rallies. I appeal to the PTI organisations to continue their preparations. All PTI workers should remain peaceful and determined. We’ll win this war morally and politically.”
He said that the public reaction to Imran’s arrest was natural as the arrest was unwarranted. Qureshi added that before leaving for Islamabad, Imran had said he would voluntarily surrender if warrants were issued for him.
He said, “There was no reason for resorting to violence, breaking glasses, manhandling lawyers, and arresting PTI activists.”
