Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has called for 'final' nationwide protests on November 24 (Wednesday). He made this announcement in front of the reporters after appearing in the court yesterday (November 13) in the corruption case.
Ever since Imran Khan's arrest in August 2023, his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has been holding demonstrations and protests in various parts of the country demanding his release and against alleged rigging of the February elections.
Imran Khan said that the dictatorial rule in the country has been strengthened by the disenfranchisement of the people, unjust arrests and the passing of the 26th Amendment of the Constitution. November 24 is an important day. All Pakistanis at home and abroad should participate unitedly in this protest.
He said, 'The main objective of this protest is to repeal the 26th Amendment, restore voting rights of PTI and ensure the release of arrested members of the party. This protest is a big challenge for PTI. Advocates, citizens and foreign supporters – all are called upon to actively participate in the protests.'
He urged the Pakistanis living abroad to hold protest rallies in major cities of the world to attract the attention of the international community. Calling these actions of the Muslim League government 'the most treacherous event in the history' of Pakistan, Imran Khan ordered the protest to continue until the demands are met.
Hearing of corruption cases
Meanwhile, the court has adjourned the hearing of the corruption case against Imran Khan till tomorrow Friday. Judge Nasir Javed Rana of the case filed by anti-corruption agency National Accountability Bureau (NAB) gave this order on Wednesday.
Explaining the reason for the adjournment of the hearing, the judge said the case was pending in the Islamabad High Court. No clear instructions have come from there regarding the case. At that time Imran Khan's lawyer Faisal Chowdhury said that the High Court had given instructions to hear the exemption application first. But the court said, they have not received any official instructions in this regard.
A NAB prosecutor said that the High Court does not have a stay order and criminal cases cannot be stayed. Under section 342 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the accused had the opportunity to present evidence on their behalf in the deposition. But Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi did not give any speech despite getting three opportunities. However, their lawyers have been given the opportunity to cross-examine the witnesses 37 times.
In view of Imran Khan's call for protests across the country, the Punjab government has said that they will take strict action to suppress these protests. Punjab's information minister Azma Bukhari said, 'We will not tolerate any disturbance in the name of peaceful protest. Those who break the law will be severely punished.'
On the other hand, PTI Punjab information editor Shaukat Basra said that PML-N has come to power with the help of Qaimi interest groups. This government came to power with the help of 'umpire' (Election Commission) and fraud of 'Form 47'. Imran Khan has awakened national consciousness. He does politics much higher than PML-N.
The Election Commission presents the overall preliminary picture of the election results of Pakistan through 'Form 47'. This document is published on the web. However, in the last election in February this year, the Election Commission removed form 47 from the website. After that, the party's 18 winning candidates' Form 47s were changed through fraud, PTI alleged. This work of the Election Commission has come under heavy criticism.
