In the wake of the May 9 violence after the arrest of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and Former Prime Minister Imran Khan, several big names are seen quitting the party.
The party’s key leaders namely Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Fawad Chaudhary have been grounded and have not been seen in action for the past eight days, said local sources.
Former Federal Minister and PTI politician Shireen Mazari has parted ways with the PTI.
Khan, meanwhile, has maintained that the Pakistan establishment is trying to crush his party, so they won’t fight the elections.
On May 9, violent protests erupted after the arrest of Khan in a corruption case by paramilitary Rangers from the premises of the Islamabad High Court. His party workers vandalised a dozen military installations, including the Jinnah House (Lahore Corps Commander House), Mianwali airbase and the ISI building in Faisalabad. The Army Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi was also attacked by the mob for the first time.
Police put the toll in the violent clashes to 10, while Khan’s party claimed 40 of their workers lost their lives in the firing by security personnel. Thousands of Khan’s supporters were arrested.
Strongly condemn Shireen Mazari’s arrest from outside Adiala after her release orders were issued by the court.This regime is sinking to new lows . Her health is fragile and subjecting her to this ordeal by rearresting her despite courts giving her bail is simply trying to break…— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) May 23, 2023
A list of the party leaders who have quit since May 9:
- Dr. Shireen Mazari, Central leader
- Amir Mehmood Kiyani, Former Federal Minister
- Malik Ameen Aslam, Former Advisor
- Sanjay Gangwani, Member of the Provincial Assembly (MPA)
- Karim Bux Gabol, MPA
- Dr. Imran Shah, MPA
- Dr Hisham Inamullah, MPA
- Nasreen Khattak, MPA
- Saeed ul hassan Shah, MPA
- Abdul Razzaq Khan Niazi , MPA
- Muhammad Ashraf Khan, MPA
- Muhammad Aown Hameed, MPA
- Sardar Qaisar Abbas Khan Magsi, MPA
- Abdul Haye Dasti, MPA
- Malik Mujtaba Maitla, MPA
- Niaz Hussain Khan, MPA
- Mian Alamdar Abbas Qureshi, MPA
- Sardar Qaisar Abbas Khan Magsi , MPA
- Muhammad Sajjad Cheena , MPA
- Zaheeruddin Khan, MPA
- Abdul Razzaq Khan Niazi, MPA
- Mehmood Moulvi , Member of the National Assembly (MNA)
- Aftab Hussain Siddiqui, MNA
- Usman Tarakai , MNA
- Malik Jawad Hussain, MNA
- Mubeen Khilji, MNA
- Faizullah Kamoka, MNA/ West Punjab Pres
- Ajmal Wazir, Former Advisor
- Dr. Muhammad Amjad, Additional Secretary Info
- Jai Parkash, PTI Minority leader
- Ch. Wajahat Hussain, PTI leader
- Salman Qureshi, PTI leader
- Syed Zulfiqar Ali Shah, PTI leader
- Musa Elahi, PTI leader
- Mian Jalil Sharaqpuri, PTI leader
‘Won’t BE SPARED’
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday said that those involved in the May 9 violence and attacked military installations and state institutions would not be spared. “It has been decided that everyone involved in the May 9 events … the planners, abusers or anyone … will be punished as per the law and the Constitution," he said.
Prime Minister Sharif said that it was not a joke that terrorists attacked air force installations in Karachi and then scores of “Imran’s people set fire to the plane in Mianwali" that was used against the enemy.
The prime minister likened the “PTI’s violence on May 9" to the acts of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terror group. “The TTP set fire to the Jinnah House in Ziarat (Balochistan) and the PTI set fire to Jinnah House in Lahore … which is now the Core Commander’s residence." He also said that rioters also vandalised state-run Radio Pakistan office in Peshawar. “These events will psychologically affect the nation for years to come," he said.
Sharif also reiterated that people who attacked military installations would be tried under laws in the Constitution. “On the other hand, people who were involved in attacks on civilian institutions will be tried under the Anti-Terrorism Act in civil courts," he said.
He also termed the May 9 violence a “black day" in the history of the country. “It will be remembered as the day when terrorism was carried out against the state by goons on the orders of Imran Niazi," he said.
Niazi is the tribal surname of Khan, which but he never used in his cricketing years as a politician, but Sharif and other leaders use it as a taunt.
With PTI Inputs
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