ISLAMABAD: Like other parts of the country, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Saturday staged protest demonstrations in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi against rigging in the February 8 general elections.

A large number of PTI’s workers participated in the protest rally led by PTI leader Sher Afzal Marwat that started from Rawalpindi despite heavy rain and culminated at the National Press Club. Protesters were holding party flags, pictures of Imran Khan, and chanted slogans in favour of their demands.

Another rally of the PTI’s workers reached Pirwadhai, after passing through Raja Bazaar, Char Number Chungi, and other areas, and entered Islamabad.

Addressing the protest rally, Marwat said his party will continue protest till release of Imran Khan and return of its stolen mandate. He said that PTI will continue its struggle in courts, in parliament, and on the roads. PTI’s peaceful protests were interrupted by state machinery and law enforcement officials, he said, adding that public have taken to the streets to take back their stolen mandate.

Marwat said that creating obstacles in the way of PTI’s peaceful protest show fear of our opponents. His party will not accept the “rigged” elections through Form 47, he said, adding that PTI will continue its struggle to take its stolen mandate back.

He urged the Supreme Court to take notice of the violation of Pakistanis’ fundamental rights under the judiciary’s watch. The present government’s reality was “stealing Prisoner No: 804’s mandate”. “Imran Khan, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Parvez Elahi, Bushra Bibi, Yasmin Rashid, Sanam Javed, and other PTI leaders have been unjustly jailed by the fascist regime imposed on us for the past two years,” he said.

The PTI leader said that Khan was innocent but has been in prison for the last seven months, his only sin was saying “absolutely not” and striving for “haqeeqi azaadi”.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024