PTI mulls mobilisation amid Punjab crackdown

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi will travel to Punjab in the coming days to bolster support for a planned march on Islamabad on September 27. This announcement was made during a meeting chaired by Afridi with party officials and Punjab parliamentarians. Over the past two weeks, PTI workers have been aggressively targeted across Punjab, with dozens arrested daily, according to provincial spokesperson and MPA Brig (retd) Mushtaq.

Rawalpindi has seen 123 arrests, including the detention of an elderly man in Mianwali after his son evaded police, and the release of a detained sister only when another family member offered herself as collateral. Despite these tactics, party officials remain confident that the September 27 rally will proceed as planned. Afridi is scheduled to visit Punjab from September 16 to 20, potentially accompanied by other proposals for his entry, including flying directly to Multan before traveling to Rawalpindi.

Party leader Gohar Ali Khan has called for unity among political parties, lawyers, and the public to march for justice on September 27, demanding the release of former prime minister Imran Khan and an independent judiciary and election commission. Khan criticized the prolonged imprisonment of Imran and his wife, Bushra Bibi, calling their treatment inhumane and unprecedented in Pakistani history. Khan urged supporters to join the peaceful march under the banner of "Justice March."