After Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and former information minister Fawad Chaudhry appealed to the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to dismiss the cases filed against former prime minister Imran Khan and other PTI leaders under blasphemy laws, the court has ordered the authorities concerned to refrain from harassing PTI leaders named in the FIR.
Following the surfacing of a video showing Pakistani pilgrims chanting slogans at members of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s delegation in Medina, the police registered registered FIRs against some PTI leaders.
The government claims that PTI leadership had orchestrated the event, a claim denied by the PTI, who says it was an organic reaction of ordinary Pakistanis, and had nothing to do with the PTI.
The petition, submitted by PTI’s legal team, comprising of Advocate Faisal Fareed and Advocate Ali Bukhari, named Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah as well the director general of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) respondents in the case. Police chiefs of Islamabad, Punjab, Balochistan and Sindh have also been named.
Chaudhry claims that ‘reliable sources’ have informed him of the interior minister’s desire to ‘teach PTI leaders a lesson they will never forget’, saying that he had been ‘openly threatened’ by Sanaullah.
The petition noted that PTI was holding its Shab-e-Dua (evening of prayer) event at PTI chairperson Imran Khan’s house on the 27th of Ramzan, and came to know about the unfortunate incident that took place in Medina via social media, like the rest of Pakistan.
The IHC has responded to Chaudhry’s petition, issuing directives asking the government to stop the harassment of Chaudhry and other PTI leaders, stating that the Interior Secretary should make it sure that the PTI leadership is not harassed until May 9 and up till then no further inquiry should be initiated against them.
