Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Barrister Gohar Ali Khan on Sunday refuted Aleema Khan's recent claim that her brother, party founder Imran Khan, was to be released within 20 days by the government as part of a deal in exchange for ending the recent sit-in at the federal capital.

 

“I had neither mentioned anything about the release nor did the government promise to release Imran Khan within 20 days,” Barrister Gohar Ali Khan told Geo News.

 

The PTI chairman clarified that he had not been in contact with anyone in this regard on November 24 or before, and no discussion was held with the government about meeting Imran. 

 

Former premier Imran Khan’s sister, Aleema Khanum, on Saturday (November 7), claimed that the government offered to release the incarcerated former prime minister (PM) if the party shifted its Islamabad protest from D-Chowk to Sangjani, outskirts of Islamabad.

 

“They [the government] panicked after seeing so many protesters in Islamabad and sent [PTI chief] Barrister Gohar and [KP govt adviser] Barrister Saif to meet Khan in jail,” Aleema said while speaking to reporters outside an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore.

 

PTI’s “decisive” march on the federal capital last month ended inconclusively after a massive crackdown by law enforcement at D-Chowk. The grand clearance operation had come as PTI leaders and workers continued with their protests amid deadly clashes with police and Rangers, rejecting the government’s offer to shift the demonstration to Sangjani.

 

During the former ruling party's three-day-long protest march, demonstrators and security officials had clashed, leading to three Rangers personnel, one police cop death and multiple wounded.

 

According to PTI, 12 party followers were dead. Meanwhile, the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) government denied that there were casualties.

 

Opposition biggest party, on the “final call” of party founder Imran Khan, initiated the protest march on November 24, which was led by CM Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ali Amin Gandapur and former First Lady Bushra Bibi, demanding the repeal of the recently passed 26th Constitutional Amendment, release of the political prisoners, including Imran Khan, and return of the “stolen mandate” believing that the February 8 General election was unfair and rigged.

Weeks after PTI led an apparently failed protest march to the federal capital, founder PTI Imran Khan, on Thursday (November 5), warned the federal government on X (formerly Twitter) that his party would begin a civil disobedience movement if two demands—the formation of a judicial commission for a transparent investigation of May 9, 2023, and November 26, 2024, and the release of under-trial political prisoners are not met.

 

“If these two demands are not accepted, a civil disobedience movement will be launched from December 14,” the founder of the former ruling party warned, adding that the government would be responsible for the results of the movement.