Ex-Pakistani PM Khan to scale up demand for political change, aide says

[November 04, 2022]  By Asif Shahzad and Mubasher Bukhari

WAZIRABAD, Pakistan (Reuters) -The party of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, who survived an apparent assassination attempt on Thursday, will hold nationwide protests until its demand for political change in the country is met, a close Khan aide said.

Khan was shot in the leg on Thursday as he waved to crowds from a truck-mounted container from which he was leading a protest march on Islamabad to press for early elections and the resignation of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

"Today, after Friday prayers, there will be protests across the country, which will continue until Imran Khan's demand is met," aide Asad Umar said on Twitter. It was not immediately clear if Umar was referring to Sharif quitting or the holding of snap polls.

The prime minister led a coalition of parties that removed Khan from power through a parliamentary vote in April.

Khan's supporters began gathering again early on Friday at the place where he was shot and called on the former prime minister - known by millions around the world as the former star player and captain of Pakistan's cricket team - to restart his march on Islamabad.
 

"The march must go ahead. It cannot stop. People are very angry, it will become more intense," Ansar Bashir, 40, a supporter who witnessed the shooting from close by, told Reuters while holding a flag of Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.

Police - who are yet to log a case or issue a preliminary report on the attack, which occurred in a region where Khan's party is in government - have cordoned off the area and worked through the night to gather evidence.

The vehicle Khan was travelling in remained parked at the site, a busy street with shops in Wazirabad about 200 km (120 miles) east of Islamabad.

Some of the shops had reopened by early morning, but there was an air of apprehension.

"This has given Wazirabad a bad name. He should stop (the protests), more lives will be lost," said Tahirul Qamar, a medical worker who had come to the market.

UNDER MEDICAL SUPERVISION

Khan, who has yet to speak in public about the incident, spent Thursday night in hospital in Lahore under supervision of doctors, who say his life is not in danger.

People chant slogans as they condemn the shooting incident on a long march held by Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan, in Wazirabad, Pakistan November 4, 2022. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro

Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmeen Rashid, also a member of PTI, told Reuters that two bullets hit Khan in the shin and the thigh.

According to Punjab government spokesperson and PTI leader Mussarat Jamshed Cheema, Khan has demanded that police investigate Prime Minister Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and intelligence official Major-General Faisal, alleging they were behind the attack.

Khan and his party have not produced any evidence to support the allegation, while Sharif and Sanaullah have condemned the attack and deny involvement.

The military did not respond to a request for comment on Khan's allegation, but earlier condemned the incident.

Sharif has called for a transparent inquiry into the shooting.

Sanaullah, speaking to journalists on Friday, expressed concern about a video statement that he said was given in police custody, in which a man presented as the alleged shooter says he was motivated by religious reasons to attack Khan.

The video, whose authenticity Reuters was unable to confirm, was run widely by Pakistani media.

Punjab police confirmed they had made an arrest, but it was not clear if this was the person shown in the footage.

The interior minister said he feared the video might encourage other religious extremists to take matters into their own hands and requested that the PTI review Khan's security arrangements.

(Reporting by Asif Shahzad in Wazirabad and Mubasher Bukhari in Lahore, Pakistan; Additional reporting by Jibran Ahmad in Peshawar and Gibran Peshimam in Karachi; Editing by Stephen Coates and John Stonestreet)

[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.