Former prime minister of Pakistan Imran Khan. AFP
Islamabad: Attacking the Shehbaz Sharif-led government in Pakistan, former prime minister Imran Khan on Wednesday claimed that those in power are pitting the security forces against the citizens and treating them like “animals”.
“This is the tragedy unfolding in Pakistan. Pitting our Police & Rangers against our own citizens by those who want, for their self-interest, to treat ordinary Pakistanis like animals who have to be kept in line by brute force,” the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief tweeted alongside a video in which Pakistani security forces can be seen stopping a woman PTI supporter as she cries in front of them.
316 PTI supporters arrested
On Wednesday, Islamabad Police informed that a total of 316 PTI supporters have been arrested till date for allegedly attacking police officers and causing chaos outside the Federal Judicial Complex (FJC) on March 18 when Imran Khan appeared there for a court hearing, Dawn reported.
Over the weekend, PTI workers clashed with police officials after the former PM arrived at the Federal Judicial Complex to attend a hearing in the Toshakhana case.
In this regard, Islamabad Police has lodged FIR, including terrorism charges, against Imran Khan and more than a dozen of his supporters.
The PTI supporters have been accused of “incitement, arson, vandalism (and) attacks on police”.
In a Twitter post, Islamabad Police said further raids are being conducted for more arrests and identification process of all suspects with the help of cameras was underway.
It further noted that 58 police officials were injured during the violent clashes while 12 cars, 20 motorcycles and a police checkpost were set on fire.
Imran Khan’s nephew ‘tortured’
On the other hand, Imran Khan claimed on Twitter that his nephew Hassan Niazi was being subjected to “custodial torture” by those in power after he was taken into custody by police on Monday.
“Strongly condemn the custodial torture that is being done on our workers & ldrs including Amjad Niazi, & now, from what I have learnt, on Hassaan Niazi who was first abducted, immed after he got bail, & then named falsely in another FIR. Shameful fascism & law of the jungle,” he tweeted on Wednesday.
Toshakhana row
Recently, the Shehbaz Sharif-led Pakistani government banned its presidents, prime ministers, cabinet members, judges, civil and military officers from buying gifts which cost over $300 under the new Toshakhana policy. Under the new ‘Toshakhana Procedure for the Acceptance and Disposal of Gifts, 2023’, a fresh set of guidelines were issued for ministries and divisions to adhere to.
“Gift(s) valuing upto USD 300 shall be allowed to be retained by the recipient after due payments as per its assessed market value,” the memo said. It added, “The gift(s) exceeding this monetory (sic) limit shall straightaway become state/Toshakhana property to be deposited and disposed of according to Toshakhana Procedure”.
As per the new policy, gifts — irrespective of their price — received by government functionaries will have to be “reported” and “deposited” in Toshkhana within “30 days of receipt of the gifts” or “30 days from the date of return to Pakistan in case of foreign visit”. Besides this, the government also released the Toshakhana records of 2002 onwards, which made public the details of foreign gifts retained by public office holders — presidents, prime ministers, federal cabinet members, politicians, bureaucrats, retired generals, judges and journalists from 2002 to 2022, Dawn reported.
(With inputs from agencies)
Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.