Imran’s orders were for sit-in at Sangjani, says PTI leader in leaked audio

ISLAMABAD: A fresh audio clip featuring Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Ali Muhammad Khan has come to the fore, hinting at widening rifts within the party leadership after its “do-or-die” protest fiasco in the federal capital.

The audio was leaked days after PTI abruptly postponed its march following a government crackdown on protesters attempting to reach D-Chowk, sparking widespread condemnation within the former ruling party.

Questions are emerging within the PTI parliamentary leadership about why supporters were instructed to go to D-Chowk instead of staging a sit-in in Sangjani, as the former prime minister had ordered.

In the audio, which Ali confirmed was his during a talk with Geo News, the PTI leader claimed that party founder Imran Khan had ordered the leaders to set up a protest camp in Islamabad’s Sangjani area, not at D-Chowk in the Red Zone. “The PTI founder had not asked to come to D-Chowk, but to Islamabad. Khan Sahib had said that the final sit-in location would be confirmed after the party members reached Islamabad,” said Ali in the audio leak.

The senior PTI leader, in the audio leak, questioned who ordered [the party workers] to go to D-Chowk when Khan’s instructions were clear. “The PTI founder had said this in the presence of Barrister Gohar, Faisal Chaudhry and others,” he added. Raising questions over the role of Khan’s sister, Aleema Khan, Ali asked why she made the call instead of the party chairman Gohar.

“The PTI founder had said that there was no place for hereditary politics in our party, so why did Aleema Khan call the protest herself?” he questioned, adding that Khan had said that the party leadership would give the call.

Ali, in the audio, could also be heard saying that the party’s aim was to hold negotiations through the protests at the orders of the PTI founder.

He added that the PTI founder was unaware of Bushra Bibi’s presence in the protest and was informed of this by Barrister Gohar. “The PTI chairman and secretary general should have announced that the sit-in would be held in Sangjani,” said Ali, adding that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur had also agreed to it. “We should have followed our leader’s orders and stopped in Sangjani. No one, including Bushra Bibi, has the right to override the founder-chairman’s decision,” he added. “When Barrister Saif had conveyed the message of the founding chairman, we should have acted on it,” he said.