Female activists of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf party take part in a public rally on the outskirts of Islamabad on Sunday. AFP

The Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) has given to the powers that be a two-week deadline for freeing its jailed founder Imran Khan or it will expand its protest movement to Punjab for his release.

The PTI flexed its political muscles in the federal capital with a public rally amid skirmishes with police on Sunday night.

The ultimatum was given by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur as he addressed the charged participants of the rally.

“If the PTI founder is not legally released within one to two weeks, we will have him freed ourselves,” he threatened, declaring that he would take the first bullet to achieve this.

A PTI activist poses for a photo as others take part in a public rally in Islamabad. AFP

The rally kicked off with tight security in the federal capital as its participants gathered at the venue, Sangjani, while multiple caravans moved towards the place under Gandapur’s leadership despite roadblocks at various points.

The PTI had been finally allowed to hold the gathering on Sept.8 under a no-objection certificate (NOC) issued by the Islamabad administration, after postponing it twice - once in July and then in August - as authorities had revoked the permissions.

These deferrals drew scathing criticism from other party leaders and workers for not being able to hold the public gathering.

However, the Islamabad district administration put the security on high alert and blocked off multiple arteries leading to the capital city, in the light of the “Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Bill, 2024” aimed at regulating public gatherings, which was signed into a law by President Asif Ali Zardari just a day ahead of the rally.

Gandapur said that the KP people did not allow their mandate to be stolen through the use of force.

“Imran Khan has always spoken up for Pakistanis and Muslims,” he said, adding, “We are conveying a clear message that we stand by the former premier.”

“If the oppression does not stop, we will continue the jihad with our lives.”

Without naming anyone, the KP chief minister said that the elements who handed the NRO [National Reconciliation Ordinance or amnesty] to the incumbents were also part of this corruption.

“Those who granted the NRO have lost. The founder of PTI has won while sitting in jail.”

Tariq Butt