ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah stated on Sunday that slightly more than 100 individuals have voluntarily submitted to arrest in response to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan’s call for the ‘Jail Bharo’ movement. These individuals are being detained for 30 days.
At a press conference in Islamabad, the minister stated that more than 80 percent of those arrested desired their release, but he insisted that they would be imprisoned outside of major cities such as Rawalpindi and Lahore.
“There are a total of 100-125 people [risking arrest] in the ‘Jail Bharo’ movement, but 80 percent of them wanted to be freed,” the minister stated at the press conference. “First, remote jails will be filled, and then Lahore and Rawalpindi jails,” he added.
Imran had announced plans for his “Jail Bharo Tehreek” to protest the government’s policies and pressure the ruling coalition to call elections. The movement began a week ago with the arrest of several prominent party leaders.
“Everyone has been detained for thirty days. “Since you desired incarceration, you have been sent there,” the minister told reporters. “We are putting you in jail to familiarise you with the conditions there,” he added sarcastically.
Several petitions have been filed with the Lahore High Court (LHC) expressing concern that the detained PTI leaders and workers were transported to “unknown places” to be “tortured” and that they may have been falsely implicated in cases.
Without mentioning the pending litigation, Rana Sanaullah stated, “We hold the judiciary in the highest regard.” Any attempt to “weaken” the judiciary, he added, would “increase the country’s difficulties.”
However, the minister emphasised that “bench-fixing allegations” must be investigated, referring to the larger Supreme Court bench hearing a suo motu notice case regarding provincial elections.
In reference to the leaking of allegedly controversial audios attributed to former Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, the minister urged the supreme court to take suo motu notice of Elahi’s alleged “close ties with a Supreme Court judge.”
The minister criticised PTI chairman Imran Khan, labelling him a “troublemaker who has never done anything for the country’s betterment.” He added that Imran was “spreading insecurity throughout the nation.”
“Imran first said he would bring a sea of people to Islamabad, and then he said he would fill the prisons,” the minister said. “However, the populace is now aware of his true nature. His ‘Jail Bharo Tehreek’ has grown into a significant walk-of-shame movement.”
Minister emphasised that his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) position in Punjab remained extremely strong. In response to a question about the election outcomes, he stated, “We can win seats if we switch candidates.”
