Imran Khan Decries 'Law of the Jungle' as PTI Leaders Either Ditch Party or Get Jailed

Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan on Wednesday denounced government crackdown on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders as the “law of the jungle" and brazen violation of Supreme Court rulings.

This rebuke came shortly after PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi was re-arrested and houses of other party leaders were raided by the authorities.

Thousands staged violent protests and attacked public property and military installations following Khan’s arrest earlier this month. His party members reportedly engaged in acts of vandalism, targeting several military installations, including the ISI building in Faisalabad.

The clashes led to death of a number of people, resulting in numerous arrests were made, with thousands of Khan’s supporters and party leaders taken into custody.

PTI leaders ditch party

After the violent incidents that occurred on May 9, several prominent figures of PTI have decided to leave the party, with as many as 35 leaders already ditching their embattled leader.

“It is a part of the process of isolating Imran Khan and telling him that one can’t be an effective political player in Pakistani politics if one fights with the establishment,” analyst Hasan Askari told AFP.

As per reports, key leaders of the party, including Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Fawad Chaudhary, have been absent from the political scene for the past eight days.

Shireen Mazari, a former federal minister and PTI politician, has recently announced her departure from the PTI. Shireen, who served as a rights minister in his 2018-2022 government, was considered a close associate of Khan.

She was arrested last Thursday on charges of inciting people to violence, then released on Monday, only to be rearrested again later in the evening. Shireen was freed again sometime later and spoke at a news conference on Tuesday afternoon.

“I have decided to leave active politics and I will not be a part of PTI or any political party from today,” she said, adding that she was quitting for health reasons.

PTI vice president to remain

Meanwhile, PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi was re-arrested on Tuesday outside Punjab’s Adiala Jail immediately after his release.

Despite his arrest, PTI Vice Chairman said that he was a member of the party and would not part ways with it. “I am with the party, and I will stay with it," he was quoted as saying by Dawn while being re-arrested.

Condemning Qureshi’s arrest on Twitter, Imran Khan said, “We are now being governed by law of the jungle, might is right and the only thing standing in its way is our judiciary."

“The constitution is being brazenly violated along with SC rulings. Police being used to crush PTI, our leaders forced to quit the party," he tweeted.

He said fundamental rights are being openly trampled upon, the media totally muzzled and activists are threatened.

Earlier on Tuesday, Imran Khan pressed his legal battle before a court in the capital, Islamabad, which granted him protection from arrest until early next month in several cases including terrorism charges for inciting violence.

Khan, who was ousted in a no-confidence vote in Parliament in April last year, has campaigned against the government of his successor, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, claiming his ouster was illegal and demanding early elections.

Following the Islamabad court’s decision on Tuesday to grant Khan protection from arrest on terrorism charges until June 8, he and his wife made their way to Rawalpindi. There Khan presented himself before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for interrogation related to a separate corruption case.

After a comprehensive four-hour questioning session, the couple returned to their residence in Lahore. At present, there is no immediate information available regarding the details of Khan’s interaction with the agency.

The allegations against the couple involve the acceptance of a property gift with the intention of establishing a private university in exchange for favoring a real estate magnate.

Khan firmly denies the accusations, asserting that neither he nor his wife, Bushra Bibi, were involved in any illicit activities.

(With agency inputs)