PTI strongly condemns custodial torture of Qureshi, demands his immediate release

DNA

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Core Committee vehemently denounced the manhandling, custodial torture and mistreatment meted out to PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi during his re-arrest and after Supreme Court (SC) granted him bail in the cipher case, demanding his immediate release and strict action against those found guilty in despicable act.

PTI core committee, in its meeting, also strongly condemned the ongoing worst attempts of pre-election rigging under the supervision and patronage of returning officers across the country, especially in Punjab.

The forum decried the use of the state machinery in sheer violation of law against PTI’s candidates during verification and scrutiny process of their nomination papers.

They termed the detentions of the seconders and proposers PTI’s candidates despite clear court orders to prevent them from freely participating in the elections as a murder of democracy.

The participants strongly condemned the shameful plan to keep the PTI candidates away from voters and supporters by entangling them in lengthy legal battle, as seemingly Returning Officers consisting of Administrative Officers of very controversial reputation and character were tasked to raise fabricated, bogus and baseless groundless objections on the nomination papers of PTI’ candidates.

They said that ECP was responsible for its failure to take remedial measures to thwart the worst election engineering attempts through the illegal and unconstitutional activities of the returning officers.

The forum lamented that the electoral watchdog snatched the electoral symbol of “bat” from PTI to force the country’s largest political party out of the political and democratic process instead of ensuring a level playing field and fulfilling its constitutional duty to hold free, fair, impartial and transparent elections.

They demanded that the Supreme Court should devise an effective mechanism to monitor the entire process, especially ECP and the decisions/actions of its appointed election staff, in order to complete the election process in a transparent manner in accordance with the constitution and law.

PTI Core Committee noted that PDM leaders, especially the leaders of Awami National Party and JUI-F and the president of PML-N carried out organized attack on a certain section of the judiciary due to their fear of worst defeat in the elections.

They recalled that it was their shameful history to carry out attacks on state institutions, especially the judiciary, adding that they launched organized campaign against the judiciary in a desperate attempt to harass the judges committed to the Constitution to force them to delay or deviate from justice.

The forum made it clear that despite all the state atrocities and gross interference in the fair and transparent elections, the workers were directed to remain completely calm and focus their full attention on the preparations for the February 8 elections.

The PTI core committee asked the people to be ready at the individual and collective level to exercise their right to vote in order to inflict humiliating and crushing defeat on those who plunged in the country into myriad problems.