LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has issued directives to revoke the basic party membership of all party leaders who recently announced to quit party or stepped down from the leadership designations.
Although several leaders have parted ways with PTI in the fallout of the May 9 violence, the most notable among them were secretary-general Asad Umar, senior vice president Fawad Chaudhry, former federal ministers Shireen Mazari, Aamer Mehmood Kiani and former adviser to PM Malik Amin Aslam.
According to local media, Imran Khan also ordered that the ‘defectors’ — who were part of the party’s core committee — should be removed from the party’s WhatsApp groups and their credentials pertaining to social media platforms should also be withdrawn.
Separately, in a statement, the PTI chairman said his party’s leaders and workers were “facing the full force of state terror”.
“Over 10,000 PTI workers and supporters in jail including senior leadership and some facing custodial torture.”
He reiterated that the May 9 violence was “condemned by the entire PTI leadership” but the state was using arson as a pretext to dismantle his party including “forced divorces” and prosecuting PTI leaders and supporters in military courts.