Ahead of the nationwide protest by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on August 5, Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s sons, Sulaiman and Qasim, will lead a rally demanding their father’s release. The brothers are planning to come to Pakistan after lobbying efforts in the United States.
On August 5, the protest against the government will be to note the day the PTI leader Imran Khan was arrested in 2023. Imran Khan is serving a sentence at the Adiala Jail regarding a 190 million pound corruption case and also faces trials under the Anti-Terrorism Act associated with the May 9, 2023 protests. The recent campaign is being laid out as an effort to reignite public and international pressure.
According to news agency PTI, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders on Friday warned that Imran Khan’s sons would be dealt with strictly if they visited Pakistan to join any “violent protest” organised by the jailed former premier’s party.
As the Shehbaz Sharif government geared up to foil the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party’s “Imran Khan Free Movement” protest plan, the 72-year-old former cricketer-turned-politician’s ex-wife, Jemima Goldsmith, said threats to her sons by the ruling party members “is not politics but a personal vendetta.” Khan’s sister Aleema Khan recently said his brother’s sons—Suleman and Kasim—would come to Pakistan as part of the PTI protest movement going to be kicked off on August 5.A cabinet member of the Maryam Nawaz-led Punjab government made it clear on Friday that Khan’s sons would be dealt with strictly if they visit Pakistan to join any “violent protest” here.
Punjab Information Minister and PML-N leader Azma Bokhari said that PTI patron-in-chief Imran Khan’s sons would not be allowed to create unrest in the country.
“Why did not Khan’s sons visit Pakistan when he was injured? Now suddenly, they are missing Pakistan,” she questioned. “Jemima has reportedly barred her sons from visiting Pakistan. However, a daughter has every right to meet her father. The instigators will not be allowed to use children to spread unrest,” she warned.
(With inputs from PTI.)
