Opposition Leader in the National Assembly, Chairman of the Tehreek Tahafuz Aain Pakistan and Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai has said that the incumbent rulers are killers who fire directly at peaceful rallies to protect their power. Speaking to the media in Peshawar, he cited examples from other countries, saying that large protests take place in countries such as France but no one is shot there. In Pakistan, more than 120 Kashmiris, including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, or TLP, workers, have been martyred during protests.

He said remaining silent and failing to raise one's voice against this oppressive government and system has now itself become a major crime. Speaking about national elections and the public mandate, Mahmood Achakzai said the votes and opinion of 40 million people had been subjected to a horrific mockery, which must be stopped immediately. He said that whether Imran Khan was good or bad, it was an undeniable fact that Imran Khan and his party had clearly won the 2024 election, but the ruling class was not prepared to grant them that mandate.

He said they had been working toward this objective from the first day and, by intimidating and threatening people, reduced the number of National Assembly seats to 70. Criticising the role of the courts and other institutions, the opposition leader said the courts and the establishment had jointly formed a front against the public mandate. He said a political party had been deprived of its electoral symbol through the courts, something that does not happen anywhere in the world.

PTI members were dragged out, while their reserved seats for minorities and women were formally distributed among other parties as spoils of war. He said it was deeply regrettable that not a single party had refused them, saying that these seats did not rightfully belong to them. The Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party chief warned that attacks were now also being carried out on the last stronghold, Imran Khan's party, which had received 40 million public votes.

He said that anyone, including judges, who believed in justice, politics and fundamental rights should observe that after the people's mandate and governments had been taken away, they were not even being allowed to protest. If the courts did not deliver fair decisions in accordance with the Constitution and law, he said, decisions would be made on the streets, which would prove extremely dangerous for the country. He urged all political forces and those responsible to come to their senses immediately to save the country from the pit of destruction.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)