Yasmin Rashid, Mehmoodur Rasheed 'not abandoning PTI'

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leaders Dr Yasmin Rashid and Mehmoodur Rasheed on Thursday expressed their support for party chief Imran Khan, solidifying their commitment to remain with PTI despite the former ruling party landing in hot waters following the May 9 riots.

The development arises amidst a wave of resignations by several leaders from PTI following the outbreak of violent protests subsequent to Imran's arrest earlier this month.

So far Chaudhary Fawad Hussain, Dr Shireen Mazari, Fayyazul Hassan Chohan, Malik Amin Aslam, Mahmood Moulvi, Amir Kayani, Jai Prakash, Aftab Siddiqui and Sanjay Gangwani among many others have left Imran Khan's party.

Read more: In another setback, Asad Umar steps down as PTI secretary general

Senior leader Asad Umar, a day earlier, also announced stepping down from all party positions shortly after he was released from Adiala Jail.

Talking to journalists outside an anti-terrorism court on Thursday, a journalist asked, "Are you also leaving PTI?" to which Dr Yasmin Rashid said, "I am not leaving PTI".

Meanwhile, senior PTI leader Mehmoodur Rasheed also expressed his support for the deposed prime minister.

"Despite all challenges, we stand firmly with Imran Khan. The thought of leaving Imran Khan and PTI is unimaginable," he said after his appearance in court.

‘Forced divorces’

Though, PTI Chairman Imran sees PTI leaders leaving the party as “forced divorces” at “gunpoint”, political experts suggest that it’s an attempt to factionalise the PTI just like the PML-N was converted into PML-Q overnight at the turn of the last century.

“Without beating around the bush, this is obviously the result of pressure coming from the establishment. The government is simply fanning it,” former PPP senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar said.

Khokhar had himself paid the price of continuously speaking up on human rights violations, especially of the PTI leaders, before being asked to leave the PPP.

He said that the current practice of pressuring politicians to leave politics wasn’t pleasing. The incumbent rulers, he added, shouldn’t take pleasure in opponents’ departure from political arena.

“This doesn’t bode well for politics in general and those who are beaming at it today will surely regret it tomorrow.”

On the whirlwind of arrests and continuous pressure from the powerful quarters, the former senator said that “only time will tell if the PTI survives this”, adding that the political parties had survived in the past.

The unexpected chain of events has unfolded just days after a series of attacks on key civilian and military installations on May 9, following the arrest of the former prime minister in a graft case.

Soon after the arrest, protesters took to the streets, key government and military buildings were attacked, ransacked and torched, several people lost lives and dozens were injured while scores of the PTI supporters were detained, including key party leaders.