Shaheer Ahmed
Imran Khan was detained on May 9 in connection with a corruption investigation, and Pakistan’s foreign minister, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, branded it “another Black Day” in Pakistani history.
Speaking at a press conference in the port city in the south, he claimed that when political leaders are detained, politics suffers the most.
His comments came amid ongoing, violent rallies across the nation following the PTI chief’s detention. Conflicts between PTI demonstrators and police officers resulted in at least eight fatalities and numerous injuries.
The foreign minister added: “We do not support any effort to ban a political party.” He claimed the PPP did not celebrate or give out sweets whenever a political leader was detained.
He bemoaned the PTI’s “violent protests” across the nation, claiming that it ought to have called for nonviolent demonstrations following Imran Khan’s detention.
The PTI, he continued, had always defended the anti-corruption watchdog and benefited from it whereas the PPP had consistently voiced opposition to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
As tensions remain high, army troops have been called in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Islamabad to control the law and order situation. During the protests, the PTI supporters stormed into cantonment areas in different cities while the Lahore Corps Commanders’ house was ransacked.
