Imran to be advised by top PTI leaders to call off Nov 24 protest

ISLAMABAD: Several top leaders of the PTI are unhappy with the announcement of the date - November 24 - for protest to Islamabad by the jailed founder chairman of the party Imran Khan.

As the announcement was made public by Imran Khan’s sister Aleema Khan and his lawyer after their meeting with the former in Adiala Jail, senior leaders of the party made contact with one another. In their discussions, they were not happy with the announcement by Imran Khan.

Informed party sources said that they discussed the matter and considered the option of still raising the issue again with Imran Khan in the next few days and persuading the PTI founder chairman to call it off. “We will make another effort,” a senior party leader on condition of not being named said, adding, “Khan will be advised to call off the protest.”

The News has the names of those senior PTI leaders who are unhappy with Imran Khan’s decision of do-or-die protest on November 24 but the party sources told this correspondent if their names are published, they would be abused and trolled by the PTI social media.

These leaders are not the ordinary ones but quite important. Some of them speak quite harshly in public but in their internal interactions they are among the saner voices in the PTI, which has become hostage to the pressures of its social media.

Imran Khan, a source said, needs better advice. Not only November 24 is too early for such a protest and sit-in which besides security issues involve the challenges of logistics. How would the protesters taking part in a sit-in at D-Chowk, even if they are 1000 in number, be provided with food? What would be the arrangement of washrooms? And these logistic issues become a huge challenge when security personnel don’t even let you enter the D-Chowk.

The source said that Imran Khan needs to know that such a protest will not only risk Bushra Bibi’s re-arrest but it would also prolong Imran Khan’s stay in jail. Khan, already got relief in several cases from the courts. As things go, even if he is convicted in the 190m Pound case, he could get relief from the high court in a few months’ time. “It’s the last case against Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi and despite our complaints from the judiciary, courts have been giving us relief,” said the source.

One of the leaders while talking to The News lamented that had Imran Khan been contacted by the Establishment, there would not have been such a protest.

Imran Khan announced a protest march to Islamabad on November 24, his lawyer and sister said on Wednesday. “Imran Khan says this is the final call for a [anti-government] protest. The PTI founder has stressed that the party’s entire leadership will be part of the march,” lawyer Faisal Chaudhry told reporters in Rawalpindi on Wednesday.

The protest will not only take place in Islamabad, but throughout Pakistan and across the world where Imran’s supporters are present, Chaudhry said. The lawyer said that the party founder had also formed a committee for the march and asked not to reveal the names of those who are part of it as Imran fears they’ll be arrested.

The News already reported on Wednesday that PTI’s founder chairman Imran Khan wants a date for do-or-die ultimate protest and possible sit-in in Islamabad but he was being persuaded by his party’s senior leaders that it may backfire if such a protest was announced without proper planning and considering all pros and cons.

Mumtaz Alvi adds: Aleema Khan, the sister of PTI’s founder, said that PTI protest would be held to demand an independent judiciary, rule of law, and oppose the 26th Amendment.

Speaking to reporters outside Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, she said that the PTI leader had called upon the public, particularly farmers, lawyers, and students, to rally for their rights and support state institutions.

The protest date was announced a day after the brief detention of senior party leaders by police, who had visited the jail to discuss legal and political issues with Imran Khan.

“Imran has addressed every party worker, ticketholder, member of the legislature, civil society, and overseas Pakistanis to join the protest,” she said, urging expatriates to demonstrate worldwide.

Aleema said that on February 8, people had voted for democracy and rejected oppression, yet their mandate was disregarded, and a selected few were put in power the following day.

She claimed that a “10-year martial law” has effectively been instituted through the 26th Constitutional Amendment.

Separately, PTI leader Faisal Chaudhry also shared that PTI’s entire leadership will participate in the protest, with each member knowing the role, while the committee will have the authority to conclude the demonstration.

He confirmed that, under the PTI founder’s direction, Ali Amin Gandapur will lead a convoy from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Quoting Imran Khan, he said, “We must now decide our future. The entire party and leadership have received instructions on what actions to take.”

Asim Yasin adds: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Vice President and Parliamentary Leader in the Senate Sherry Rehman has responded to PTI founder Imran Khan’s announcement of a “final” protest call for November 24, questioning its intent.

“Just like the ‘last ball,’ Imran Khan has now announced a ‘last call’ for protest,” she said, asking, “What is the true purpose behind this so-called final and decisive protest?”

“Clearly, Imran Khan aims to create unrest, using his workers as political fuel for his release. This is not a protest but a call for anarchy and incitement, which we strongly condemn,” Rehman said.

Senator Rehman said that while PPP leaders were hanged, the party never directed its workers to engage in protests as a “do-or-die” mission.

“We have conducted peaceful protests, but we never asked our workers to ‘do or die,’” she said, urging the PTI not to incite young people for political gain.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League (N) Senator Irfan Siddiqui, the Parliamentary Leader of PML(N) in the Senate and Chairman of the Senate’s Foreign Affairs Committee, also criticised Imran Khan’s protest call, questioning the purpose of this supposed fight for the future.

In a post on social media platform X on Wednesday, Siddiqui remarked that PTI’s four-year government was marked by violations of the rule of law, wrongful detentions, and a stolen mandate, describing it as an era of severe misgovernance.

Siddiqui commented that this was Imran Khan’s 13th “final call” for revolution since his government ended through a no-confidence motion. “This will be no different from the previous 12 so-called final calls,” he said.