Pakistan’s former Prime Minister and the leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan stated on Wednesday that the nation is “descending into a Banana Republic”. These remarks came amid the unrest over the detention of PTI leader Shahbaz Gill, which according to Khan, is a conspiracy to target him and his party, ANI reported. Gill was detained by the police on August 9 after his comments on television about Pakistan’s army were declared “highly hateful and seditious” by the country’s media authority.
Taking to Twitter, Imran khan posted a video of Gill being transported to the hospital and said, “Descending into a banana republic. The civilised world will be shocked at our levels of barbarism. The worst part is an easy target has been chosen to make an example of through torture and without a fair trial.”
At the request of the Islamabad police, on Wednesday, a local court issued a two-day physical remand PTI leader Gill. After denying a police appeal to prolong Gill’s two-day physical remand, the court remanded him in the custody of the Islamabad police. The investigating officer was also ordered by the judge to obtain Gill’s medical examination and submit a report to the court, as reported by the Dawn newspaper.
Imran Khan expressed concern over Gill’s arrest
According to the ANI report, Imran Khan’s PTI has claimed that Gill was previously tortured while in police custody and that his life is still in danger. In another tweet, the PTI chief added that those like “NS, Maryam, MFR, AZ,” who have repeatedly and in the worst way assaulted State institutions through malevolent and targeted statements, got away without the slightest hint of a reprimand.
Meanwhile, Gill, a close ally of Imran Khan, has been transferred to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) hospital due to health issues. Raising concerns over the situation, Khan added, “He [Gill] is in a fragile state of mental and physical health because of the torture inflicted on him when he was abducted and taken to an undisclosed location and then again at the police station.”
Earlier, Imran Khan criticised the current Shehbaz Sharif-led government for causing strife between PTI and the armed forces. He added that his Party possesses the “street power” to bring the entire country to a halt. “We have the street power; we can shut down the whole of Pakistan, but the economic conditions of our country are such that we should worry about the country, so we also protest peacefully,” Khan stated on Wednesday during a conference held via video link from his Banigala house, according to ANI.