Gandapur says cases against Imran fabricated

PESHAWAR: KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur on Sunday said that all the cases instituted against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder were baseless and illegal.

“We demand that Imran Khan should be released after providing him a free and fair trial,” he said while speaking at a rally arranged at the Amn (Kabutar) Chowk at the junction of the Ring Road and Dilzak Road.

The protest was staged here, as was done in other parts of the country, on the call of the party leadership to register anger at the alleged rigging in the recent general elections and manipulation of the results.

Gandapur, who is also the provincial president of PTI, alleged that the party founder was punished for taking only one item legally from the Toshakhana. “But Asif Ali Zardari has become the president of the country despite taking an expensive car from the Toshakhana through illegal means,” he alleged.

He alleged that Maryam Nawaz did not hold a public office but despite that she bagged a car from Toshakhana. “She has not become the chief minister of Punjab,” he said while accusing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of resorting to money laundering amounting to billions of rupees.

The chief minister said that the cipher case was a conspiracy against the-then prime minister Imran Khan and his government. “We demand Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa to constitute a judicial commission to unveil the people behind it and tell people of the real facts,” he said while addressing the party workers.

Gandapur talked of the bids to break down the PTI and said all such tactics were now an open secret. “Our party workers were put in prisons. Even women workers were arrested,” he lamented.

“The party was deprived of its election symbol. And there was no permission to wave the party flag in public. But I salute the people who voted for us and made us successful in the general elections,” he said.

The chief minister said the mandate of the people given to them as per Form-45 should be recognized and those who had a right to victory should be granted the very right.

He flayed the Election Commission of Pakistan for depriving his party of the seats reserved for women and minorities and distributing them among other political parties. “This was an illegal and unconstitutional act,” he said.

“We will move every forum to get this right. Our struggle will continue till getting back our mandate,” he pledged.

The chief minister said the Constitution was violated time and again. “Elections were required to be held within 90 days as per the Constitution in KP and Punjab after the dissolution of provincial assemblies. This was a constitutional obligation but was not met. Those violating the Constitution should be tried under Article 6 of the Constitution,” he asserted.

Gandapur said the PTI believed in the supremacy of Constitution and rule of law. “The masses should become our team. They should back us in our struggle to stamp out corruption and injustice,” he added.

The chief minister said his government would make KP an ideal province and work for the welfare of the people inhabiting the province.

Meanwhile, the city witnessed the worst traffic jams because of the closure of roads to the venue for the public meeting. Motorists and commuters suffered the entire day.