Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan on Saturday warned that continued hostility towards his party would “wreck democracy,” saying PTI had endured pressure only for the sake of the country.

Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad with PTI leaders Asad Qaiser and Salman Akram Raja, Gohar said the party founder Imran Khan remained in jail on “politically motivated cases” and the tone used in Friday’s press briefing was “deeply disappointing.”

“We have tolerated everything for Pakistan and for democracy,” he said.

“The founder of PTI is in jail on political cases. Yesterday’s press conference was discouraging. The words used were inappropriate. If this attitude continues, democracy will be destroyed. It will not be minus one — it will be minus everyone.”

Gohar was responding to the DG Inter-Services Public Relations, Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, who had termed the “delusional and narcissistic mindset” of incarcerated PTI founder a national security threat.

The DG ISPR said the armed forces would remain firm against all internal and external threats and would not allow anyone to “inflame the public against the army.”

Gohar rejected the framing, saying PTI had consistently avoided confrontation.

 “We did not come here to fight, but some clarifications are necessary. Even the elected chief minister of a province [Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi] was targeted yesterday,” he said.

“We have kept patience. We lost seats, even our home constituencies, yet we stayed within democratic principles.”

PTI leader Asad Qaiser said Imran Khan was a “national star” who gave Pakistan “respect and recognition,” adding that calling him a security risk was unacceptable.

“He is struggling for the real freedom of the people. We want to see the army as a strong institution,” he said.

PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja said Pakistan was facing a severe crisis marked by unemployment, weak public services, and a “dangerous concentration of power.”

He said the country had repeatedly experienced similar cycles under past military rulers.

“We were told during the Gen Musharraf era that a new era of moderation had arrived and that we would join the global economy. Yet that same man later could not even secure proper medical care in this country,” Raja said.

He added that the situation today was “the darkest place Pakistan has seen,” accusing the government of trying to promise economic progress while “turning the country into a prison.”

He said the party would not forget what happened during the elections.