As the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) “Jail Bharo Tehreek (court arrest movement)” kicked off Wednesday, senior party leaders have voluntarily surrendered themselves to the police.
The movement aims to counter the “attack on constitutionally-guaranteed fundamental rights” and the “economic meltdown” by the incumbent government.
Taking to Twitter, former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan said that the PTI is set to start the Jail Bharo campaign for two main reasons.
“One, it is a peaceful, non-violent protest against the attack on our constitutionally-guaranteed fundamental rights. We are facing sham FIRs and NAB cases, custodial torture, attacks on journalists and social media people,” wrote the PTI chief.
Khan went on to say that the second is against the economic meltdown brought on by a “cabal of crooks who have money laundered billions in looted wealth and gotten NROs for themselves while crushing the people, especially, the poor and the middle class, under the burden of spiralling inflation and rising unemployment.”
Separately, to refresh the party workers’ zeal for the court arrest movement, Khan released a video message, urging them to “fill up prisons and shatter the idols of fear”.
He called on all Pakistanis to join the movement to achieve “Haqeeqi Azadi”.
The PTI chief, in the wake of sedition cases filed against his party leaders including Fawad Chaudhry, Azam Swati and Shahbaz Gill, had announced the movement on February 4.
In the first phase of the movement, the party’s senior leaders — Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Asad Umar — voluntarily decided to surrender themselves to the authorities on Tuesday.
‘200 workers to voluntarily surrender to Jail Bharo Tehreek’
PTI Lahore chapter President Imtiaz Shaikh had announced that former Punjab governor Omer Sarfraz Cheema, Waleed Iqbal, Murad Raas, Muhammad Khan Madni, and Fawad Rasool, accompanied by 200 workers will voluntarily surrender themselves to the authorities in the metropolis.
He had said the movement will start from Lahore’s Charing Cross at 2pm.
