Imran spoils for a fresh battle

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is bracing for a confrontation on November 24 as it has called a massive rally in Islamabad demanding the release of its leader, Imran Khan.

- SMRUTI S PATTANAIK

Khan has been imprisoned for a year on several cases, including the attack on a military installation, corruption and the Al Qadir Trust case.

Initially, the party leaders and its members of Parliament were set to participate in the protest; now, it has been extended to the entire nation.

The PTI is apprehensive that its leaders may not join the rally as they might come under pressure. Therefore, general participation by sympathisers would keep the party's popularity in good standing.

Despite challenges and roadblocks, the party has always worked on a show of strength; however, the May 9 incidents of violence and attack on army installations, including a Corp Commander's house, are a reminder of how such confrontation may go out of control.

The PTI has put forward three demands to call off the rally. First, reversal of the 'stolen mandate'. The PTI thinks that in the last election, the party would have won but was denied due to the 'mechanisation' of the establishment, which allowed the Pakistan Muslim League (N) to form a new government.

However, this narrative is not new. The party spoke about this when the last election voted the PML (N) into power. Second, the release of all the political prisoners of the party, and third, the reversal of the 26th Amendment Act passed recently by the Parliament.

Khan was perceived as the blue-eyed boy of Pakistan's military establishment when he was elected prime minister. However, he fell from grace due to his confrontationist attitude with the powerful military.