Ex-PM Khan’s party announces jirga in Peshawar on Dec. 13 to discuss grievances

Former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party leader, Omar Ayub Khan (L) speaks as PTI’s chairman Gohar Ali Khan looks on during a press conference in Islamabad, Pakistan, on February 18, 2024. (AFP/File)

• Khan’s party on Nov. 24 led thousands of supporters to Islamabad, seeking to pressure the government to release the ex-premier from jail
• The protests resulted in clashes that government says killed four law enforcers, while the party says 12 supporters were killed in crackdown

ISLAMABAD: Jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party will hold a jirga, or meeting of elders, in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar on December 13 to discuss its grievances with the federal government, a senior PTI figure said on Sunday, following last month’s protests by Khan supporters in Islamabad that turned violent.
Khan’s party on Nov. 24 led thousands of supporters to Islamabad, seeking to pressure the government to release the ex-premier from jail and order an audit of Feb. 8 national election results. The protests resulted in clashes that Pakistan’s government says killed four law enforcers and injured hundreds of others.
The PTI has named 12 people and says it has evidence they lost their lives during the crackdown, however, several PTI members have given varied accounts of casualties during the protests. Pakistani authorities have denied the casualties, saying security personnel had not been carrying live ammunition during the protests.
The PTI has since been demanding a judicial probe into the crackdown in Islamabad on Nov 25 and during similar protests across the country on May 9 last year, which it says killed eight people. The party also demands the release of all arrested political workers.
Speaking at a press conference in Peshawar, PTI’s Omar Ayub said thousands of their supporters had been injured during the Islamabad protests, while more than 5,000 had since been arrested by the federal authorities.
“A jirga will be held in Peshawar on December 13,” Ayub told reporters. “We will contact all parties and pay a tribute to our martyrs.”
Khan’s PTI party has staged several protests this year to demand the release of the ex-premier, who has been in jail since August last year on a slew of charges, as well as to challenge results of the Feb. 8 national election, which it says were manipulated to keep the party from coming to power in the country. The Pakistani government and election authorities deny this.
Last week, Khan threatened to launch a civil disobedience movement and asked supporters to converge on Dec. 13 in Peshawar, the capital of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province which is ruled by his party.
Ayub said the ex-premier had formed a negotiation committee, comprising himself, KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, Asad Qaiser and Hamid Raza. He, however, did not clarify who the committee would hold talks with.
“If our demands were not met, then we will head toward civil disobedience,” he added.