ISLAMABAD: Former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party announced on Saturday its senior media manager had been “abducted,” adding the development was part of an ongoing crackdown against the party which had deteriorated the human rights situation in the country.
PTI has been facing a crackdown for over a year after people carrying its flag indulged in violent protests and vandalized government buildings and military properties following Khan’s brief detention on corruption charges.
Since then, several of its top leaders, including the ex-premier himself, have been incarcerated in different parts of the country and tried in a number of legal cases against them.
The recent development took place when the party’s international media coordinator was taken away from his residence, making his wife file an application in a court for his recovery.
“My International Media Coordinator Ahmed Janjua and 3 other SM [social media] activists have been abducted early morning,” said Zulfi Bukhari, a senior PTI leader and close aide to the former prime minister, in a social media post. “In the past 2 weeks there has been a serious crackdown on PTI social media [team].”
Bukhari attributed it to the team’s international reporting of “all the atrocities” taking place in Pakistan.
“This continuous deterioration of basic human rights won’t be allowed to continue for long,” he added.
Janjua’s wife, Farhana Barlas, filed an application in the Islamabad High Court, requesting an immediate hearing. However, the court is likely to take up the case on Monday since the incident took place over the weekend.
According to her application, 20 people in plain clothes forcibly entered the house at 4 AM on Saturday after breaking the door.
They took away Janjua’s laptop and cellphones before dragging him away.
The family tried to file a First Information Report (FIR) with the police, but it was not registered by the relevant officials.
Janjua’s wife said her husband had been taken away due to his affiliation with Khan’s political party.
She nominated the federal secretaries of the defense and interior ministries as the respondents, along with the inspector general of police and the station house officer of the local police precinct.