“My sympathies go to all those who under pressure have been made to leave the party,” he wrote in a tweet on Thursday. “And I commend and salute all the senior members who are resisting the extreme pressure to quit the party.”

Khan said: “The nation will always remember them for standing up for Haqeeqi Azaadi.”

Over the past few days, many leaders of PTI have parted ways with the former ruling party over the May 9 violent protests. People, which the government claims belong to the PTI, attacked state buildings in the wake of Khan’s arrest.

PTI Chairman Khan has condemned and called for an independent inquiry into it as the government decides to try such suspects in military courts.