RAWALPINDI: Incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan has assigned an “important responsibility” to former president Dr Arif Alvi, who had been making efforts to bridge the gap between the establishment and former ruling party, revealed the party’s Secretary General Omar Ayub Khan on Thursday.
The development came a day after the PTI founding chairman turned down the military’s demand to apologise for the May 9 events and distanced his party from the violent protests that broke out in the country last year soon after his arrest.
Addressing a press conference flanked by Alvi outside the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, Ayub said: “The PTI founder has assigned important responsibility to Arif Alvi [during his maiden meeting with Khan after leaving the Presidency].”
For his part, the former president said: “The PTI founder is ready to render [more] sacrifices [for the country]”
Without disclosing the nature of the “importance responsibility” the PTI leader said: “I have received instructions from the PTI founder.”
Moving on to the police crackdown against the PTI leadership in the backdrop of the May 9 mayhem, Alvi said: “Some people of the PTI might be involved [in May 9 violence] but the entire party was crashed.”
The May 9 violence was triggered almost across the country after the deposed prime minister Khan’s arrest in the £190 million settlement case last year. Hundreds of PTI workers and leaders were put behind bars for their alleged involvement in violence and attacks on military installations.
Dozens of the PTI leaders parted ways with the party or quit politics after the incident.
During the protests, the miscreants targeted the civil and military installations including — the Jinnah House and the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi. The military had termed May 9 “Black Day” and decided to try the protesters under the Army Act.
Alvi further said that their mandate was stolen in the February 8 general elections, adding that they had evidence about it.
