PTI Secretary Information Raoof Hasan got emotional on Tuesday while sharing the ordeal of his party MNAs who were allegedly compelled to not submit affidavits to the party after the Supreme Court awarded the former ruling party reserved seats.
“We received 37 – out of the 41 – affidavits which we have submitted to the Election Commission of Pakistan. Two of our members are in Dubai and another is in Saudi Arabia. They are sending the affidavits from there,” he said while appearing on Aaj News show Spotlight with Munizae Jahangir.
“One was in process, so 40 are taken care of,” he said.
Hasan went on to claim that there were people who phoned their members and intimidated them. “Some people were arrested. They have arrested a child,” he said.
“Muzammil, 17, has been arrested. His father, Ameer Sb, was told that they would torture him if he submitted the affidavit,” Hasan said and claimed that the teenage boy had been tortured.
“Honestly, the man is very brave. Hats off to him. He reached the end and deposited the affidavit,” Hasan said as he got emotional while speaking about the situation.
When asked, Hasan said that the PTI MNA was aware of the fact that his son was in the custody of people who arrested him.
“This is the story of PTI,” Hasan said.
The show host noted that “it was hitting close to home” as Hasan had to speak about the ordeals of a crackdown on party MNAs.
When asked about the party’s future plans, he said that the PTI would hopefully hold a rally on July 21 or July 27 or July 28. “Then there is a spate of rallies which we will hold.”
In response to a query, he said that former prime minister Imran Khan has directed the party’s leadership to politically up the movement and intensify it.
When asked whether the PTI leadership owned social media posts, he said: “Obviously I don’t control it. Those who do have this prerogative approve it through a mechanism. They [people who make social media posts] were based in Pakistan but when our people were arrested over the last two years they left Pakistan. Virtually 99% of people are based out of Pakistan.”
He agreed with a question that the PTI was not given power but only the government in the past. Hasan reiterated that the establishment should not be involved in politics. “They [army] have a constitutional role to secure borders and live in barracks.”
The PTI’s secretary information added that the party would tell the establishment to act according to the role defined in the Constitution.
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He acknowledged that the party does not have enough funds, but added that the PTI arranged more than needed funds overnight before the Tarnol rally that was postponed. Hasan claimed that the family of diaspora that sent them money from abroad were targeted, blocking their source of funds.
“We have decided that NOC or no NOC we will head towards agitation,” Hasan said.
In response to a question about whether to allow former leaders Shireen Mazari and Fawad Chaudhry to re-join the party, he stated: “Khan Sb has said let me come out and I will personally see their cases as who should join us.”
