The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf staged a symbolic hunger strike camp outside the Karachi Press Club for the second consecutive day on Tuesday for the release of its founder and former prime minister Imran Khan, with former president Arif Alvi in attendance.
Addressing the protest camp, Alvi said that the country is currently running under a “cruel” system that does not even tolerate people protesting. He said that during the General Election 2024, the PTI’s electoral symbol, bat, was also taken away, and its candidates were not allowed to contest the polls freely, yet the public stood with the party through their ballot.
He added that “prisoner number 804”, a reference to the PTI founder inside jail, is fighting a significant battle for the people’s rights. He commented that some people said that Khan could not survive in jail even for two days, but he is comfortably serving time.
The ex-president said that currently, the entire system is at a dead end, the judiciary is at a deadlock, and those who speak the truth have been silenced, but Khan is not in a deadlock. “Any person in a dead end can make a wrong decision and cause an explosion,” Alvi commented, adding that the people are being threatened that their children will be taken, and they are being coerced into holding press conferences against Khan.
He said that he previously as the country’s president tried to hold negotiations so did Khan with those who have power; however, negotiations cannot be held with people who have assumed power through fake Form 47s.
Speaking on the occasion, Sindh PTI President Haleem Adil Sheikh said that the PTI mandate was stolen through rigging, and 22 national and 35 provincial assembly seats from Karachi were snatched from the party and given to those who were rejected by the public.