Rumours of government’s plans to arrest former prime minister Imran Khan have been doing the rounds on social media, along with a clip of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi instructing party workers on how to react in case the PTI leadership is placed under house arrest.
In the clip, which is taken from a news report by Qudrat News, Qureshi tells party workers that if the government arrests PTI leaders, or puts them under house arrest before the long march to Islamabad, the workers shouldn’t wait for instructions and should ‘turn their own districts into Islamabad’.
Shah Mahmood Qureshi calls for people to 'activate' in all streets once Imran Khan is placed under house arrest. pic.twitter.com/3Mtd2akOC0
— TheOneAndOnlyAnona (@adamabdullaa) May 10, 2022
Since then, reports of Imran Khan potentially being placed under house arrest ahead of his long march to Islamabad have been making the rounds on Twitter.
Some sources claim that a government spokesperson has denied these rumors, saying there is no truth to these unverified reports.
Earlier today (Tuesday), Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned Imran Khan’s ‘aggressive speeches’ during his rallies, saying that such rhetoric could lead to anarchy within the country. The National Assembly also passed a resolution condemning the PTI chairperson’s statements against the army and judiciary.
Shehbaz said “The poison he spewed about the institution yesterday is a conspiracy against it and Pakistan,” and added that if this wasn’t stopped, the country could become a horrible reflection of Syria and Libya.
Yesterday, during a PTI rally in Abbottabad, Imran Khan had made several bold and thinly veiled comments regarding the military establishment. Narrating the stories of Sirajud Daulah and Mir Jaffar, he compared his government to that of Daulah’s, leading some people to suspect him of likening Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Bajwa to Mir Jaffar.
