Incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan on Thursday threatened to launch a “civil disobedience” movement if the government did not fulfill his demands for the release of all political prisoners and a judicial probe into the May 9, 2023 riots and last month’s Islamabad protest.
In a posting on X from his official account, the PTI founder said he had formed a five-member negotiating committee comprising Omar Ayub Khan, Ali Amin Gandapur, Sahibzada Hamid Raza, Salman Akram Raja and Asad Qaiser. This committee, he said, would negotiate with all stakeholders in government on his twin demands.
“If these two demands are not accepted, a civil disobedience movement will be launched from Dec. 14,” he warned, adding the government would be responsible for the results of this movement. He urged all overseas Pakistanis to limit their remittances to Pakistan as part of the civil disobedience movement. “In the second phase, we will go further,” he added.
While Khan did not specify it, the “civil disobedience” calls appears to be the “trump card” he had earlier claimed to be holding during a conversation with his sister, Aleema Khan.
In his X posting, the incarcerated PTI leader also slammed the crackdown on his party in Islamabad, alleging that “hundreds” of the party’s workers were still missing. He also lamented the judiciary’s failure to take action on alleged human rights abuses. He said the PTI would stage a “grand gathering” in Peshawar on Dec. 13 to pay homage to “martyrs,” adding all opposition political parties would be invited to participate.
The PTI last month launched a “do or die” march on Islamabad, aimed at securing Khan’s release. The protest ended abruptly after its co-leaders, Bushra Imran and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, fled Islamabad ahead of the government’s crackdown on the protesters.
The party has since claimed 12 of its workers were killed in the crackdown. The government maintains it did not use any live ammunition against the protesters, adding the PTI’s supporters had martyred four law enforcers, including three Rangers personnel and a policeman, during the protest.