PTI Protest March: Political confrontation in Pakistan has intensified ahead of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) march to Islamabad on September 27. The party has accused authorities of targeting its leaders in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The PTI has said the September 27 protest will go ahead despite arrests and other action against its leaders and workers.
He was taken into custody after leaving the MPA Hostel in Peshawar for a meeting at the Chief Minister’s House, according to reports. Speaker Babar Saleem Swati said the province has witnessed several such incidents in recent days. Provincial Law Minister Aftab Alam said a case has been registered against Shakeel Khan. He said Shakoor has been kidnapped. He also said the son of an MPA and staff members of another provincial minister allegedly been taken away in separate incidents. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi said on Monday (September 21) that the party would proceed with the September 27 protest “at all costs” and would announce its detailed plan on September 25. He said that PTI workers would mobilise across the country. The federal government has said it will not allow the protest to disrupt Islamabad. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has said preparations are being made to prevent the capital from being shut down during the planned mobilisation.
Provincial Minister Fazal Shakoor has reportedly been taken into custody, an incident the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly described as a kidnapping. A separate firing case in Malakand involves another provincial minister, Shakeel Ahmad. The police and the minister have given different versions of the incident. The developments came as PTI stepped up preparations for the protest seeking the release of party founder and jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan. He was allegedly taken away by men in plain clothes. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly later described the incident as the kidnapping of a provincial minister. He played a video showing Sakoor’s arrest. The incidents came as PTI prepared for its planned march to Islamabad.
