Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan denied police permission to investigate his Lahore residence for suspects involved in this month's attacks on government and military buildings, and he outlined his conditions for any such operation.
Imran Khan has denied sheltering anyone involved in the violence and stated that a search could only be conducted by a panel appointed by a high court and comprised of members from both the government and his party, with a female officer accompanying the panel. He expressed concern that unsupervised police could conceal weapons.
Pakistan Police Surround Imran Khan's Residence
Amir Mir, the information minister of Punjab province's capital, Lahore, told Reuters that police would begin a search once Khan agreed to certain conditions. The impasse is the latest confrontation between 70-year-old former cricket sensation Khan and the powerful military, which has exacerbated political instability in the 220 million-person South Asian nation.
Pakistan is also experiencing its worst economic crisis in decades, and crucial IMF funding required to forestall a balance of payment crisis has been delayed for months. Khan's residence in the Lahore neighborhood of Zaman Park was the scene of violent clashes in March between his supporters and police who attempted to apprehend Khan for not appearing in court.
Khan was ultimately detained on May 9 on allegations of bribery, which he denies, and was released on bail that expires this month. His arrest sparked a wave of violence by his supporters, who assaulted government structures, public properties, and military installations, including its Lahore headquarters and the residence of an army commander.
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan toned down his defiance campaign on Friday, announcing that he would permit a police search of his home.
Khan appeared before a court in his birthplace of Lahore to seek protection from detention in multiple terrorism cases that authorities have filed against the country's most prominent opposition leader. Khan is facing approximately 100 legal cases, Washington Times reported.
He also condemned the days of violence in which his supporters attacked public property and military installations after he was carried from a courtroom and detained in a corruption case in Islamabad, the nation's capital, last week. At least ten individuals were slain in nationwide clashes between his supporters and police.
Only after the Pakistani Supreme Court ordered Khan's release did the unrest subside. The police sought Khan on suspicion of instigating his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf supporters into violence. He denies the allegation, stating that he was in the custody of the National Accountability Bureau in a corruption case when the violence broke out.
Khan appeared amicable before an anti-terrorism court in Lahore, the provincial capital of Punjab, where he was charged with terrorism. The judge granted him arrest protection in three terrorism cases until the beginning of June.
After Khan's release from custody and return to Lahore last week, police surrounded his home on suspicion that he was harboring 30 to 40 violent suspects in his affluent Zaman Park residence.
The police, approximately 300 officers stationed around Khan's residence, threatened to search if the perpetrators were not turned over. The confrontation was resolved when the authorities agreed to search the residence. Khan's party asserted that police failed to locate any perpetrators.
Khan later told reporters at his residence that he would assist the police in apprehending those responsible for the attacks against military installations. However, he showed no sign of relenting in his efforts to compel elections and regain power. Jai Parkash, a prominent Hindu leader and minority member of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, resigned on Friday, becoming the latest politician to leave the former prime minister's party.
In the 2018 general election, Jai Parkash was elected to the National Assembly as a candidate for the PTI on a minority-reserved seat. While addressing the media, the president of the PTI minority wing condemned the May 9 protests in the harshest possible terms, stating, "Pakistan exists because of the army, and we exist because of Pakistan."
Imran Khan's Party Leader Resigns
On Monday, Imran Ismail, the former governor of Sindh for the PTI, claimed that Jai Parkash was abducted by over "forty masked individuals from his home." The resignation of Jai Parkash follows a spate of resignations by senior PTI politicians, as per NDTV.
Mubeen Khilji, a provincial minister in the PTI government, departed the party of the former prime minister earlier on Friday. Mubeen Khilji stated at a press conference that he was leaving the PTI because of the May 9 violence. The police have placed the death toll from violent confrontations at ten, while Imran Khan's party claims that forty of its members were killed by security personnel's gunfire.
On Monday, the top military leaders pledged to prosecute the arsonists who attacked the civil and military installations under the country's pertinent laws, including the Pakistan Army Act and the Official Secrets Act. In Pakistan, law enforcement agencies have detained over 7,000 PTI workers, including 4,000 from the province of Punjab.
Imran Khan, a 70-year-old cricketer-turned-politician, was expelled from power in April of 2017 after losing a vote of no-confidence in his leadership, which he claimed was part of a US-led plot to eliminate him due to his independent foreign policy decisions regarding Russia, China, and Afghanistan.
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