PTI to hold protest at Adiala jail over Eid

ISLAMABAD: After failing to get any concession for the party’s founding chairman, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) will hold protests outside the Adiala Jail on three days of Eidul Fitr.

The Chairman of Public Accounts Committee and head of the PTI Khyber Pakht­unkhwa Chapter, Junaid Akbar, in a televised interview, said that the party workers will hold protest on all three days of Eidul Fitr outside the Adiala jail where the former prime minister, Imran Khan, is imprisoned.

He also said if the government wanted to hold talks with the main opposition party, it (government) has to take the first step and show its seriousness in the talks.

He said that everything is not ideal in the opposition alliance, but said that efforts are being made to strengthen the alliance.

“The parties in Tehreek-i- Tahafuz-i-Ayeen-i-Pak­istan (TTAP) are supporting us. Now we have been trying to get the support of the political forces which are not part of the parliament. We have also contacted Jamaat-i-Islami leadership and I am quite hopeful that the situation will improve,” he said.

While admitting that there are some differences within parties, Mr Akbar said that such small obstacles will not affect the alliance.

“We will march towards Islamabad after Eidul Fitr, but it is also possible that we may hold a protest outside the Adiala jail on three Eidul Fitr days, he said.

The PTI has been trying hard to get concessions for the founding chairman and it did all possible efforts to get Imran Khan released on payroll to attend a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security which was briefed by armed forces after the Jaffar Express incident.

After failing to get him [Imran Khan] released, the PTI tried to get approval for the party leaders to meet Mr Khan in the jail, but even that request was not allowed by the government due to which the party has now decided to boycott the meeting of the committee. Now the PTI has been aiming to start a massive movement after Eid to put pressure on the government to get some concessions for the incarcerated ex-PM.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2025