ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan warned on Thursday that the party’s civil disobedience movement would commence with a boycott of remittances starting December 22 if his “legitimate demands” remained unmet by the government.
Earlier this month, the former prime minister had announced plans for a civil disobedience movement from December 14, demanding the release of political prisoners and the formation of a judicial commission to investigate the events of May 9 and November 26, 2023.
On Tuesday, Imran’s sister Aleema Khanum reiterated his warning, stating that overseas Pakistanis would be urged to halt remittances if the demands were ignored. PTI lawyer Chaudhry Faisal Hussain later clarified that the party leadership was instructed to wait until Sunday before initiating the campaign.
A statement shared on Imran’s official X (formerly Twitter) account on Thursday conveyed his “important message.” Reaffirming the demands, the statement declared that the first phase of the campaign, involving a boycott of remittances, would begin Sunday if the government failed to act.
“We appeal to Pakistanis living abroad: the situation in Pakistan is clear to you. Democracy, the judiciary, and the media have been silenced, and a period of oppression and fascism prevails. Therefore, we request you to start boycotting remittances,” the statement read.
It also criticized the government’s response to PTI’s offer for negotiations, framing it as an attempt to portray the party as capitulating. The statement emphasized that the proposal to delay the civil disobedience movement was made in the “broader national interest.”
“If the government is uninterested, we will not force negotiations upon them. Our offer should not be perceived as a sign of weakness. If the government wants to avert the civil disobedience movement, they must address our two demands or demonstrate why these demands are unconstitutional,” it added.
Imran also revealed that he had proposed a negotiation team to meet him in jail and was awaiting the government’s response.
The PTI chairman was arrested on May 9, 2023, at the Islamabad High Court, triggering nationwide riots that lasted over 24 hours. The violence claimed at least 10 lives, left hundreds injured, and caused significant damage to public and military installations.
In response, authorities launched a sweeping crackdown on PTI, arresting thousands of party workers and nearly its entire senior leadership, many of whom still face legal proceedings under serious charges.
Last month, PTI’s “final call” for nationwide protests ended with intense clashes between security forces and protesters in the federal capital, culminating in a retreat from Islamabad’s Red Zone in the early hours of November 27.
I am an experienced writer, analyst, and author. My exposure in English journalism spans more than 28 years. In the past, I have been working with daily The Muslim (Lahore Bureau), daily Business Recorder (Lahore/Islamabad Bureaus), Daily Times, Islamabad, daily The Nation (Lahore and Karachi). With daily The Nation, I have served as Resident Editor, Karachi. Since 2009, I have been working as a Freelance Writer/Editor for American organizations.
