Amid growing speculation regarding a harsher crackdown on the former ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), senior journalist Hamid Mir has hinted at the possibility of a formal ban on the party.
Speaking during his show on Geo News Tuesday night, the journalist said that statements from some federal officials and state ministers were giving the impression that a decision to ban the PTI had already been made.
“Not only that, but it appears that a treason case could also be filed against Imran Khan, his sisters and some other leaders of the PTI,” he said hours after a press conference by Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Information & Broadcasting Barrister Danyal Chaudhry and Minister of State for Law and Justice Barrister Aqeel Malik.
During the presser, Malik said that “certain elements” continued to propagate a negative and misleading narrative against Pakistan, causing serious harm to the country’s political environment and youth.
He said that the individuals routinely made delusional and baseless statements, which their party members immediately echoed.
In his remarks, Chaudhry said the PTI was engaged in propaganda against Pakistan and its state institutions.
He said the party’s politics was built on false narratives that damaged the country’s reputation during its tenure and was now attempting to undermine the positive and upward economic trajectory Pakistan is experiencing today.
The press conference came as the Punjab Assembly, separately, adopted a resolution to ban incarcerated PTI founder and former prime minister Imran Khan and his party for being “anti-state”.
The resolution followed Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry’s presser from last week wherein he assailed Khan for creating and spreading an “anti-army” rhetoric.
Such narratives, he said, were now out of the realm of politics and had become a “national security threat”.
PML-N MPA Tahir Pervaiz moved the resolution in the provincial house on Tuesday, which was passed by the treasury members amid a boycott of the proceedings by PTI parliamentarians.
While the resolution did not specifically name the PTI or its founder, it said, “The institutions that safeguard Pakistan on every front and have successfully countered an enemy five times larger, such as India, are vital to the country’s integrity and stability.”
“A ban should be imposed on the political party and its founder for acting as a tool of the enemy state. He is also accused of making statements against the country and spreading chaos.”
The resolution demanded that action be taken against any leader, whether belonging to political or non-political groups, in accordance with the law, and that they be awarded “appropriate punishment”.
It merits a mention that the federal government in 2024 decided to ban the PTI and sought Article 6 proceedings against Khan, ex-president Dr Arif Alvi and former National Assembly (NA) deputy speaker Qasim Suri.
However, the government did not follow through with the ban.
