Pakistan Tehreek-E-Insaf (PTI) Secretary General Salman Akram Raja Tuesday said Shah Mahmood Qureshi will continue to follow the instructions of party founder Imran Khan after his release and will not act independently of party politics.
He spoke to the media near Adiala prison and said, “Only the founder’s words hold weight within the party.” He refused to speculate on Qureshi’s future role and said that no decisions could be made without the founder’s direction.
Raja’s comments came after an anti-terrorism court in Lahore issued two separate release warrants for Qureshi, addressed to the superintendent of the central prison Kot Lakhpat.
The senior PTI leader had been acquitted on August 11 in connection with cases associated with the riots on May 9 who followed the arrest of Imran Khan.
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Raja also clarified that PTI’s 14 August program was not a political protest. “It is a celebration of Pakistan’s independence, where our supporters will also express solidarity with the party and its founder,” he said.
He criticized the current political climate and claimed that Pakistan’s legal system lacks independence and that the political freedoms guaranteed under the Constitution are not maintained.
The PTI leader described the legal procedure against party workers as unfair, often dependent on repeated evidence and the testimony of the police.
He also condemned authorities for blocking access routes and allegedly used power against workers trying to meet Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi in Adiala Prison.
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“According to the court’s order and the prison manual, family and lawyers were to meet them today, but still we were denied access again,” said Raja. He added that Imran’s sisters, Aleema and Noreen, were also prevented from coming in and eventually staged a protest.
He accused law enforcement of inserting containers and using batons to spread the collection. “Several workers were injured. It is dictatorship – and we will resist it, regardless of the consequences,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Aleema and Noreen were denied entry despite attempts to go to the prison on foot. After over five hours of protest, they were taken into custody with several workers and moved to the Chakri exchange, where they were released later in the evening.
The arrests triggered short protests, but all detained workers were released shortly afterwards and spread peacefully.
