Saturday, May 13, 2023

Imran Khan Asks Supporters To "Snatch Freedom", Protest Nationwide

 

Lahore:

Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan called for nationwide "freedom" protests on Sunday, after his brief arrest and detention last week triggered deadly unrest.

The one-time cricket superstar -- who has been tied up in dozens of legal cases since being ousted from power in April last year -- was freed on bail on Friday after his detention was declared unlawful by the Supreme Court.

Enraged by the arrest, supporters set fire to government buildings, blocked roads and damaged property belonging to the military, which they blame for Khan's downfall.

"Freedom does not come easily. You have to snatch it. You have to sacrifice for it," he said in an address broadcast on YouTube Saturday night.

He called for his supporters to hold protests "at the end of your streets and villages" across the country on Sunday, and announced a return to campaigning on Wednesday for immediate elections.

For months, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party leader has waged a campaign of defiance against the military.

His arrest on Tuesday came just hours after he was rebuked for claiming senior officials were involved in an assassination attempt against him last year.

Pakistan's powerful military has directly ruled the country off and on for nearly half of its 75-year history, and continues to wield power over the political system.

"The army chief's actions have made our military bad. It is because of him, not because of me," Khan said from his home in Lahore, although it was unclear whether he meant the serving chief, or his predecessor, whom Khan has held responsible for his ouster.

He previously told reporters that "one man, the army chief" was behind his arrest.

But Khan distanced himself from the attacks against the military's installations at the protests, denying his party workers were involved and calling for an independent investigation into the violence.

The army, which denies the accusations made by Khan, on Saturday warned against attempts to create "misperceptions" against the institution.

'Anti-state behaviour'

At least nine people died in the unrest last week, police and hospitals have said.

Hundreds of police officers were injured and more than 4,000 people detained, mostly in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, according to authorities.

At least 10 senior PTI leaders have been arrested since the protests began, one of Khan's lawyers said.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the head of a shaky coalition, on Saturday warned that those involved in "facilitating, abetting and perpetrating" the violence should be arrested within 72 hours.

"Those who demonstrated anti-state behaviour will be arrested and tried in anti-terrorist courts," he said during a visit to Lahore.

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has repeatedly vowed that police will re-arrest Khan, who remains wildly popular ahead of elections due in October.

The Islamabad High Court ruled that Khan should be given protection from arrest until Monday.

'Everyone knows'

Khan won the 2018 election on an anti-corruption campaign, voted in by an electorate weary of decades of dynastic politics.

Independent analysts say he was brought to power with the support of the military, before falling out with the generals.

"Everyone knows who it is. It's the military behind (Khan's arrest)," 21-year-old PTI supporter Mohsin Khan told AFP outside the party chief's home.

The pushcart seller added that he wanted the military and politicians "to work together".

The political crisis has simmered for months, with Khan attempting to disrupt the coalition government by dissolving two provincial parliaments he controlled and agitating for early elections.

Mobile data services and access to social media platforms including Facebook and YouTube, which were cut shortly after Khan's arrest on Tuesday, had been partly restored around the country as of Saturday.

The country now seems primed for a "progressively ugly showdown in the days and weeks to come", read an editorial in Dawn, the country's leading English language newspaper.

"None of the leaders, political or institutional, who are invested in this tug-of-war appear ready to take a step back," it said.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

 

 

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Sameer Wankhede of Aryan Khan case says he's being ‘rewarded’ for being patriot

 

IRS officer Sameer Wankhede who led the Narcotics Control Bureau when Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan was arrested in a drugs case said he was being punished for being a patriot -- after the CBI raided his residence and other premises on Friday. The charges against Sameer Wankhede is the allaged demand of 25 crore bribe for not framing Aryan Khan in the drugs case. Out of this alleged bribe amount, 50 lakh was allegedly obtained. The CBI has booked Sameer Wankhede and three others in connection with a corruption case related to the Aryan Khan drugs-on-cruise case.

 

Issuing a statement, Wankhede said his resident was searched for more than 12 hours when his wife and children were present. "They found 23,000 and four property papers. These assets were acquired before I joined the service...I am getting rewarded for being a patriot," Sameer Wankhede said. His wife Marathi actor Kranti Redkar's phone has been taken away by the CBI officials, Wankhede said, as reported by news agency ANI.

CBI recovered 28,000 from his sister Yasmin Wankhede's house and 28,000 from his father Dnyaneshwar Wankhede's house. 1800 rupees were also recovered from Sameer the residence of Wankhede's father-in-law.

Sameer Wankhede and Aryan Khan case

A 2008-batch IRS officer, Sameer Wankhede raided the Cordelia cruise ship on October 2, 2021 and arrested Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan among others on the charges of possession of drugs. Aryan Khan spent 25 days in jail. In 2021, the NCB in its chargesheet gave a clean chit to Aryan Khan as there was no sufficient evidence that he was carrying drugs.

Controversies surrounding Sameer Wankhede

Sameer Wankhede is not new to controversies and the Aryan Khan case took the lid off many such controversies regarding his caste, religion. NCP leader Nawab Malik who is now in jail brought several allegations against Wankhede. It was Nawab Malik who claimed that Sameer Wankhede was born a Muslim and forged documents to get a government job in the SC quota. There was a liquor bar in the name of Sameer Wankhede in Navi Mumbai, Nawab Malik alleged. The extortion claims in connection with the Aryan Khan case were also made at that time.

Sameer Wankhede 'fraud Singham': Priyanka Chaturvedi

Uddhav Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi called Sameer Wankhede the 'fraud Singham' and said Karma never misses an address. "Said it from day 1 & now glad karma has said hello. As the saying goes, Karma never misses an address," Chaturvedi tweeted after CBI raid on Wankhede's house.

  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR

    Poulomi Ghosh is a journalist with Hindustan Times, New Delhi.

Sameer Wankhede issued a statement on Saturday after the CBI booked him for demanding 25 crore bribe from Shah Rukh Khan in the Aryan Khan drugs-on-cruise case.

 

 

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Imran Khan Asks Supporters To "Snatch Freedom", Protest Nationwide

  Lahore: Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan called for nationwide "freedom" protests on Sunday, after his brief ar...