PTI to observe ‘Thanksgiving Day’ as PDM govt all set to bow out

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ISLAMABAD, AUG 9: With the National Assembly all set to be dissolved tonight, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has announced observing August 10 (Thursday) as “Thanksgiving and Salvation Day”.In a statement issued on Wednesday, the PTI core committee decided to commemorate the day, as the 16-month tenure of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government will end tonight.Earlier today, addressing the farewell session of the lower house of parliament, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced that he would write to President Dr Arif Alvi tonight to dissolve the National Assembly, three days before the end of its constitutional term.The PTI has decided to put forth a detailed analysis of the “devastation” caused by the PDM-led incompetent government before the nation, read the statement.The former ruling party will inform the masses about censorship of media and repression against journalists, it added.Details related to skyrocketing inflation and economic disaster will also be brought before the nation.The PTI expressed its disappointment over the court hearing in connection with an appeal against the sentence handed down to the deposed prime minister, who was removed from office in April last year via a vote of no confidence.The PTI core committee urged the authorities concerned to take serious notice of threats to Khan’s life.It is pertinent to mention here that Khan was arrested on August 5 after a district and sessions court in the federal capital convicted him for corrupt practices related to the state gift depository — allegations which he denies.”Charges of misdeclaration of assets have been proven against the PTI chairman,” Judge Humayun Dilawar wrote in his judgement, handing Khan three years in jail, along with a fine of Rs100,000, while issuing an arrest warrant for his immediate arrest.On August 7, Khan’s counsel, Naeem Haider Panjotha, claimed that his client has been provided C-class facilities and kept in “poor condition” in Attock jail.The lawyer said that the former prime minister was provided with a small room “which has an open washroom”.Elaborating on the poor conditions of the cell, the lawyer said the jail cell was infested with flies and bugs where the PTI chief is being kept.The party also condemned the harassment of Khan’s counsel Panjotha and Khawaja Haris Ahmed via the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

A day earlier, the FIA cybercrime wing grilled Panjotha for nearly eight hours, said well-placed sources. Amid reports of his arrest, the sources had said the lawyer left the FIA headquarters, where he was summoned for investigation in the social media posts of Judge Humayun Dilawar.