Govt urges for calm amid PTI's 'anti-people' protest call

Ministers continue to criticise PTI chief but seek 'postponement of political war' for the sake of the people

The ruling coalition called for calm after leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) asked workers and supporters to take to the streets to protest against the possible arrest of former prime minister and party chief Imran Khan.

As PTI supporters continued flocking to Bani Gala, the hometown and current residence of the PTI chief, after he was booked for terrorism, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif continued to spread his message of progress and prosperity.

“Anything deviating from this path” he termed as “anti-people”.

Pakistan's future lies in human capital formation with a focus on education, health & justice. Anything deviating from this path is anti-people.All reforms, no matter the time they take & pain they carry, should converge on this single point.This is where politics should compete.

— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) August 22, 2022

In a less subtle tone, Railway Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique urged all political parties to set their differences aside albeit only temporarily and focus their energy on helping the “millions of Pakistanis suffering from the ravages of floods”.

لاکھوں پاکستانی سیلاب کی تباہ کاریوں کاشکار ھیں انھیں زندہ رھنے اوربحالی کیلئے فوری مدد درکار ھے

سیاسی جنگ وجدل اگرکچھ عرصےکیلئےملتوی ھوسکےتو
تمام سیاسی جماعتوں سے اپنےقائدین کارکنان اور وسائل سیلاب زدگان کی مدد کیلئے وقف کرنے کی اپیل ھے🙏

اھل ِ دل سے اس اپیل کی حمایت درکارھے

— Khawaja Saad Rafique (@KhSaad_Rafique) August 22, 2022

Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal, however, compared the PTI chief with the likes of Hiter, Mir Jafar, Stalin and Mussolini. Calling Imran out for his “hypocrisy”, Ahsan Iqbal mocked Imran for his slogan of “true freedom”.

عمران نیازی جس نے 4سالوں میں پاکستان کی معیشت کی اینٹ سے اینٹ بجائی، کشمیر سرنڈر کیا، CPEC بند کیا اور خارجہ پالیسی تباہ و برباد کی اگر وہ “حقیقی آذادی” کا نعرہ لگائے یہ ایسا ہے کہ جیسے:
-ہٹلر امن،
-میر جعفر و میر صادق وفا،
-سٹالن احترام انسانیت،
-میسولینی جمہوریت
کی بات کریں۔

— Ahsan Iqbal (@betterpakistan) August 21, 2022

Expressing his dismay over Imran Khan’s “threats” to Islamabad police officials and a female judge, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah thrashed Imran for being an “instigator”.

عمران افسران کو قانونی ذمہ داریاں پوری کرنے پر دھمکیاں دے رہا ہے، جو شرمناک ہے۔ عمران ایک فتنہ ہے! میں نے سانحہ لسبیلہ کے بعد ہی اس پر مقدمہ درج کرنے کا کہا تھا، ان کے خلاف مقدمہ کیلئے وزارت قانون سے رائے لے رہے ہیں، لسبیلہ مہم اور TV بیانیے پر وزارت داخلہ نے رپورٹ تیار کرلی ہے۔

— Rana SanaUllah Khan (@RanaSanaullahPK) August 21, 2022

Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb also termed Imran a “foreign agent” who she claimed has “become a threat to Pakistan and its security”.

Read PTI supporters flock to Bani Gala as threat of Imran's arrest looms

“By challenging the national institutions and the state writ, they are inciting the people to violence, lawlessness, rebellion and riot,” she added denouncing him for wanting “civil war in the country”.

عدلیہ کو اب معلوم ہو گیا ہوگا کہ سیسیلین مافیا کیا ہوتا ہے.فارن ایجنٹ عمران خان پاکستان اور اس کی سکیورٹی کے لئے خطرہ بن گیا ہے۔ قومی اداروں اور ریاستی رٹ کو چیلنج کر کے عوام کو تشدد، لاقانونیت، بغاوت اور فساد پر اُلسا رہے ہیں۔عمران خان ملک میں خانہ جنگی چاہتے ہیں

— Marriyum Aurangzeb (@Marriyum_A) August 20, 2022

Another Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hina Parvez Butt also called Imran Khan out for first “threatening the judges and then going to them for pre-arrest bails”

کتنی عجیب بات ہے، عمران خان نے پہلے ججز کو دھمکیاں دیتے پھر قبل از گرفتاری ضمانت کیلیے انہی ججز کے پاؤں پڑتے ہیں۔۔۔منافقت کی اگر کوئی شکل ہوتی تو وہ عمران خان جیسی ہوتی۔۔۔

— Hina Parvez Butt (@hinaparvezbutt) August 22, 2022

She also appeared to be supporting rumours floating on social media that Imran Khan had fled his residence in Bani Gala and mocked PTI supporters for being “naïve” enough to be “guarding the palace” without him.

میاں صاحب اپنی صاحبزادی کیساتھ خود جھوٹے کیسز میں گرفتاری دینے لندن سے پاکستان آئے، دوسری جانب عمران خان گرفتاری سے بچنے کیلیے بنی گالہ سے بھاگ چکے ہیں اور بیچارے پی ٹی آئی کے سادہ ورکرز اس وقت صرف بنی گالہ کے محل کا پہرہ دے رہے ہیں۔۔۔

— Hina Parvez Butt (@hinaparvezbutt) August 22, 2022

Meanwhile, estranged PTI founding member and Akbar S Babar also supported the rival party's criticism of Imran Khan.

Threatening government officials is a crime. Doing it live on national television in the heart of the capital only compounds the crime.

Even bigger crime is for any government to ignore it for political compulsions.

— Akbar S. Babar PTI (@asbabar786) August 20, 2022

He condemned the party for "threatening government officials" but simultaneously took a jab at the government over its inaction out of "political compulsions".

IHC grants pre-arrest bail

Meanwhile, PTI chief Imran Khan was granted a pre-arrest bail till August 25 by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) after being booked under terrorism charges.

The bail plea was heard by Justice Mohsin Akthar Kayani and Justice Babar Sattar, who approved the bail and ordered him to approach the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) within these three days.

Read More PTI to challenge ban on live telecast of Imran’s speeches

Imran’s counsel, Babar Awan and Faisal Chaudhry, argued that the PTI chief should be granted protective bail as he wanted to appear before the ATC, but his house was “surrounded by the police”.

They further feared that the police personnel could arrest Imran if he appeared in court without a protective bail.