The PTI asserts that senior party officials have been relocated to a “undisclosed” location.
According to a former speaker of the National Assembly, the primary objective of the Prison Bharo Tehreek is to ensure that Pakistan is governed in accordance with the Constitution.
A day after PTI leaders and activists began voluntarily submitting themselves for arrest in Lahore under the party’s “Jail Bharo Tehreek,” the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) claimed on Thursday that the party’s top echelon is being taken from Kot Lakhpat jail to an undisclosed location.
PTI Vice President Shah Mahmood Qureshi, General-Secretary Asad Umar, and senior leaders Azam Swati and Azam Niazi were allegedly travelling in a prison van that was being followed by a car, according to a video shared on the party’s official Twitter account.
The PTI alleged that police were taking PTI employees who voluntarily turned themselves in for detention yesterday in Lahore to a secret location from Kot Lakhpat jail.
They had driven on Multan Road after crossing Thoker Niaz Baig in Lahore, it was claimed.
On Day 2 of the movement, former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser stated that “Jail Bharo Tehreek’s” primary goal is “to rule the country in accordance with the Constitution.”
“We intend to govern the nation in accordance with the Constitution. Only until it is run in accordance with the Constitution and the law will the nation be stable, he remarked.
The former NA speaker praised the Supreme Court’s suo motu notice of the delay in holding elections in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP), adding that he hoped the high court would fulfil its crucial function.
He added that the party would object to any attempts to violate the law or the Constitution.
Pervez Khattak, the leader of the PTI, revealed during a news conference that the party’s K-P leadership will turn themselves in for detention today.
The drive will next be carried out divisionally, the former defence minister stated.
He added that the party’s primary demand is to hold free and fair elections and that the current administration came to power in order to inflate the nation.
On Wednesday, party leaders and volunteers began showing up for arrest voluntarily, marking the beginning of the PTI’s “Jail Bharo” campaign.
According to the PTI Central Media Cell, among other party leaders at the national and local levels, those facing arrest in Lahore included Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Asad Umar, Umar Sarfraz Cheema, Azam Swati, Muhammad Madni, Murad Rass, Ihsan Dogar, Siddique Khan, Azam Niazi, Abdul Wakeel, Shadi Khan, Gulfarm Virk, Muhammad Rehman, Hamed
jails that are too full
With a combined capacity of only 4,000, both jails in the provincial capital are overcrowded, housing at least 8,000 convicts.
In a similar vein, other prisons in Punjab are similarly overcrowded.
A total of 35,000 inmates can be housed in the province’s jails. But they have been housing at least 50,000 prisoners.
If the government were to imprison PTI activists, especially in large numbers, it would be difficult to manage the available space in jails.
The authorities are searching for jails with lower inmate populations in order to address this issue.
Dera Ghazi Khan and Mianwali are the only jails that have been located so far.
An official stated that PTI activists would be transferred to other areas, such as Mianwali and Dera Ghazi Khan, if their number in Lahore’s jails exceeded their cap.
