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RAWALPINDI – At least 46 US lawmakers have asked President Joe Biden to advocate for the immediate release of former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan and all other political prisoners in the country in order to ensure their safety in line with the findings of the UN Working Group report.
In a letter to written to the outgoing President Biden, as many as 46 members of the Congress urged him to take steps to act on the provisions of “H. Res. 901”, which was passed by the US House of Representatives by an overwhelming majority in June this year.
While sharing the letter on its official X handle on Saturday, the PTI said: “46 members of the US House of Representatives, including members from both the Republican and Democratic parties, have written a letter to President Joe Biden calling for urgent action for the release of Imran Khan.” It further said that the letter, jointly led by Susan Wild and John James, criticises the role of the US Ambassador Donald Blome and his failure to “incorporate the concerns of the Pakistani American community in its work including meaningfully advocating for the release of political prisoners, the restoration of human rights, or respect for democratic principles.” In their letter to the president, the US lawmakers, while referring to the provision of H. Res. 901, said that the legislation brought together Democrats and Republicans in support of a change in US policy —focusing on escalating human rights violations and erosion of civil liberties in Pakistan in the aftermath of the “flawed” February 2024 elections.
“These elections were characterised by widespread irregularities, electoral fraud, and state-led suppression of the country’s leading party, PTI — including disenfranchising the party in the leadup to the vote, as well as reversing precinct-level results, which showed an overwhelming victory for PTI-associated independent candidates.”
Since the elections, the situation has worsened — with “rampant curbs” on civil liberties, particularly on freedom of expression, read the letter. The US lawmakers also expressed their disappointment over “use of mass arrests, arbitrary detention, and the implementation of a de facto firewall against social media platforms, with reports of broader efforts to slow internet access speeds”.
‘Shah Mahmood Qureshi’
Incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Saturday spoke to reporters saying that his party kept him away from any consultative process on the on-going political crisis, despite having 40 years of experience in politics.
Talking to reporters following a court appearance after keeping silent for months, the seasoned politician from Multan castigated the senior party leadership when he said they should meet him and other jailed leaders in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail if time allowed them.
“I appeal to the PTI leadership, who are free, to visit Lakhpat (Jail) any time if they have some spare time…to get some input from us (on the present political deadlock),” he said while referring to party Chairman Gohar Ali Khan, Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan and Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram.
He underlined that the PTI leaders including Dr Yasmin Rashid, Senator Ejaz Ahmad Chaudhary, Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed and Omar Sarfraz Cheema besides him had been imprisoned for one and a half years.
He paid tributes to those party leaders, who are not in jail, for their struggle in politics but added that they should meet them to get some advice. After having 40 years of experience in politics, I urge the party leadership to engage with all like-minded political parties and build a consensus on a common minimum agenda, not for Imran Khan or PTI but for the sake of independent Pakistan and for the future of our children, he said.
These parties are those with whom PTI has an agreement on different issues including rule of law, independence of judiciary, human rights and supremacy of law, he added. Former foreign minister and Vice Chairman PTI Qureshi emphasized that he stood with former prime minister Imran Khan and would remain so in future. Supporting the November 24 protest call of Khan, he urged the party supporters, lawyers and youth to come out on the day to raise the voice for their rights.
Instead of criticizing his party’s coalition partner – Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) – in the federal government, Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari should call a meeting of his party’s Central Executive Committee and stand with democratic forces, Qureshi also said.
Earlier this week, the PPP leader had criticized the PML-N for not holding political agreements with his party and failing to provide them with respect in the federal government.