Imran Khan asks PTI leaders to finish rift, focus on movement

Pakistan Tehreek-E-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan has called on party members to set aside personal differences and focus on the party’s movement in the midst of signs of growing disagreement over a recent meeting held in Lahore.

Aleema Khan, who spoke with the media after meeting Imran in the Adiala prison, said the former prime minister had issued two strong messages. “Differences are consciously created over the Lahore collection,” she quoted him as saying. “Finish personal disputes and focus completely on the movement.”

She said IMRAN also criticized his treatment in prison and claimed that both he and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were subjected to “oppression.”

“Prison superintendent and an officer have removed basic human rights,” she said, adding, “there must be accountability for the treatment I have endured. This is all done on a person’s orders.”

Aleema also said that Imran expressed satisfaction over the participation of 300 party artists at the Lahore meeting, but warned that any person causing departments in the party would be treated in person. “We are in prison and you are burning to canyons – it’s unacceptable,” she quoted him as saying.

“We have been jailed for two years now,” Aleema continued. “Our family stands fully at the party’s decisions. We want to see the founder’s instructions followed. The time has come to pave the way for his release and demand a cessation of inhuman treatment of the prison authorities.”

Meanwhile, PTI -General Secretary Salman Akram Raja reprimanded Public PTI Punjab Chief organizer Aliya Hamza and called her recent tweet of the party’s Lahore event unnecessary and warning of disciplinary action.

In a speech with journalists outside Adiala Prison, Raja expressed frustration over internal tensions after a collection in Lahore, which was attended by the Top PTI leadership. “Aliya Hamza should not have tweeted about the Lahore event,” he said, adding, “the whole conversation was foolish. If something happens further, we will take disciplinary actions.”

Read more: Gandapur gives 90-day ultimatum to Imran Khan’s release

He rejected claims of exclusion from the event and said that those who did not attend did so by election. “There were no problems with invitations. Whoever would come could come. No one was stopped,” he said. “The press conference did not require everyone’s presence. I only went because the minister of chief was there. It would not have looked right if he approached the media alone,” he added.

When he criticized the efforts to politicize the event, he said, “A controversy was deliberately created around the Lahore event as part of a conspiracy. What was the need to tweet after the press conference? I reject it tweet and warn: Don’t do it again.”

Raja also made it clear that the party would follow the timeline set by PTI founder Imran Khan. “The date the founder has given will stand. These conversations in 90 days mean nothing. What I say is correct and if anyone dares to contradict me, I will treat them.”

He emphasized that Aliya’s role was to mobilize the party in Punjab – not to comment on internal affairs publicly. “Her job is to work, not to tweet. We will run this movement according to the founder’s instructions,” he concluded.

PTI is facing internal rift

PTI is struggling with internal departments over the timeline and strategy of a nationwide protest aimed at ensuring the release of former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The disagreement, primarily between the party’s central leadership and its Punjab chapter, has escalated tensions as the proposed date of protest is approaching August 5, marking two years since KHAN’s prison.

The central management-inclusive President of Gohar Ali Khan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur-Has Purified a 90-day campaign that culminates with a decisive protest, and emphasizes a strategic structure to maximize the impact.

Read more: Aleema Khan welcomes PTI -Parliamentarians’ Unit at the Lahore Meeting

Gandapur, who spoke at a Lahore press conference on July 13, described the movement as a “do-or-die” effort to challenge what PTI calls a “fascist regime” and to ensure Khan’s release.

In contrast, Aliya has firmly supported an immediate protest on August 5 and in line with a call attributed to Imran Khan via his sister, Aleema Khan.

Aliya has reportedly threatened to resign if the party differs from that date and highlights a lack of coordination with central leadership. Rift became public when she expressed her frustration over X.