PTI News, Updates and Discussion

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[ghazi52]

Achakzai as NA leader is a ‘back-up’ plan: PTI​

Ikram Junaidi
August 24, 2025

• Party leaders say legal options to restore Ayub, Shibli to be exhausted first
• Omar says PkMAP chief’s nomination to boost opposition alliance

ISLAMABAD: Amid controversy surrounding the nomination of Mahmood Khan Achakzai — the head of the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party — and Senator Azam Swati as opposition leaders, PTI insiders have said these appointments will only proceed if former leaders Omar Ayub and Shibli Faraz remain barred from parliament.

The party plans to avail all legal options to reverse the disqualification of National Assembly Opposition Leader Omar Ayub and Senate opposition leader Shibli Faraz, who were disqualified by the Election Commission of Pakistan in light of the May 9 sentences.

Against this backdrop, the PTI chief earlier this week named Mr Achakzai, who also heads the PTI-led opposition alliance Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan, and Senator Swati for these coveted roles. The decision, however, upset many in the party, and a debate ensued over why an outsider was picked to lead the PTI-dominated opposition.

 

[ghazi52]

May 9 riots: Faisalabad ATC sentences key PTI leaders Omar Ayub, Shibli Faraz, 57 others to 10 years in jail​

Tariq Saeed
August 25, 2025



This photo combo shows (L to R) PTI leaders Shibli Faraz, Omar Ayub and Zartaj Gul. — DawnNewsTV/ X@zartajgulwazir


A Faisalabad anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday sentenced key PTI leaders Omar Ayub, Shibli Faraz and Zartaj Gul, along with 56 others, to 10 years in jail and acquitted 34 in the case of an attack on former interior minister Rana Sanaullah’s house during the May 9, 2023 riots.

On May 9, 2023, military installations and state-owned buildings were vandalised as PTI supporters protested the arrest of ex-premier Imran Khan, who was released later but has been imprisoned in various cases since August 2023. Following the riots, thousands of protesters, including the party’s top leadership, were arrested.

Judge Javed Iqbal Sheikh presided over today’s hearing of the case registered at the Samanabad police on May 9, 2023.

PTI legal team head Malik Khalid Shafiq confirmed the convictions to Dawn.com. He said that out of the total 109 accused, 59 were handed 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment and 16 were given three years’ jail time.

Ayub, Faraz and Gul, as well as Muhammad Ahmad Chattha, were recently disqualified from their parliamentary seats following their convictions in other May 9 cases.

Other PTI leaders included Sheikh Rashid Shafique (nephew of former interior minister Sheikh Rasheed), Ashraf Khan Sohna, Rai Hassan Nawaz, Rai Murtaza Iqbal, former MNA Kanwal Shauzab and former Punjab MPA Farah Agha. They were also convicted in other May 9 cases on July 31.

Former information minister Fawad Chaudhry, who quit PTI in the wake of the May 9 incidents, and MNA Zain Qureshi (son of PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi) were among those freed of the charges today.

Fawad and Zain had also been acquitted in three other Faisalabad cases pertaining to the May 9 riots.

PTI parliamentarians convicted would face automatic disqualification under Article 63(1)(g) of the Constitution, which bars members convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude or corrupt practices.

Reacting to the court verdict, Gul said on X that she was innocent.

She contended that the verdict was based on the argument that she was present in a meeting held at Imran’s Zaman Park residence in Lahore on May 7, 2023, where plans for the protest were reportedly made.

However, according to Gul, she was present in her Dera Ghazi Khan constituency on that day, attending a “fateha, inauguration, wedding and other events”. She also shared screengrabs of social media posts that showed her activities that day, adding that she had presented this evidence in court.

 

[ghazi52]

Sentences against opposition pile up​

Today’s convictions are the latest in a slew of ATC sentences, wherein over 100 PTI leaders and workers have been handed lengthy jail terms.

On July 22, a Lahore ATC had handed Yasmin Rashid, Omar Sarfraz Cheema, Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed and other PTI leaders 10 years of rigorous imprisonment in a case related to vandalism at Sherpao Bridge. However, incarcerated Shah Mahmood Qureshi and five others were acquitted.

The same day, a Sargodha ATC had sentenced as many as 32 accused, including then-Punjab Assembly opposition leader Malik Ahmed Khan Bhachar, in a case registered at the Musakhel police station.

On July 31, a Faisalabad ATC had sentenced over 100 PTI leaders and workers to up to 10 years’ imprisonment in three cases. Omar Ayub, Shibli Faraz, Zartaj Gul and Sunni Ittehad Council chief Hamid Raza were among key opposition leaders handed 10 years’ jail time.

In one case, 60 out of 67 accused were convicted, while seven were acquitted. In another case, 107 out of 108 accused were sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment, while one person received a three-year sentence and 77 were acquitted.

On August 1, a Sargodha ATC sentenced PTI worker Muhammad Ismail to rigorous life imprisonment in May 9 cases related to an attack on the judicial complex in Mianwali and declared 50 others as proclaimed offenders.

 

[ghazi52]

PTI faces setback as Salman Raja resigns, Hammad Azhar withdraws from by-election​

Gen-sec says he had requested Imran Khan to allow him to focus on legal battles earlier, but he had declined

Imran Adnan
August 25, 2025

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Secretary-General Salman Akram Raja speaks to journalists outside Adiala jail in Rawalpindi on February 25, 2025. SCREENGRAB

LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) faced a fresh leadership jolt on Monday as Secretary General Salman Akram Raja announced his resignation, while senior leader Hammad Azhar withdrew from contesting the upcoming Lahore by-election.

Taking to X, Raja said an incident had compelled him to step down. “My life is an open book. None of my actions contradicts any principle. I do not accept compromise on intellectual and economic integrity. Tomorrow, I will resign from office by requesting Imran,” he posted.

 

[ghazi52]

He said he was not a traditional politician but had stood firm despite internal and external pressures. “We endured subtle attacks, accepted economic uncertainty, and faced false cases, but I regret nothing. I am not afraid of jail,” Raja said, highlighting his role in key cases such as the Tyrian, Iddat, cipher, military courts, and reserved seats disputes.

Raja's departure from the secretary general position stems from what he characterised as irreconcilable differences regarding his responsibilities within the party structure. He revealed that he had requested Imran, through Advocate Ali Bukhari, to allow him to focus on legal battles earlier, but he had declined.

Meanwhile, Azhar's withdrawal from the NA-129 constituency race adds another layer to PTI's electoral challenges. The seat became vacant following the death of his father, veteran politician Mian Azhar, creating expectations that the younger Azhar would seek to continue the family's political legacy in the constituency.

Instead, Azhar designated his cousin, Chaudhry Arsalan Zaheer, as the family's preferred candidate. Zaheer previously chaired Lahore's fruit and vegetable market committee during PTI's tenure in government and has collaborated with the Azhar family in previous electoral campaigns.

 

[ghazi52]

20 PTI men held on charges of violence, attacking police​

A case has been registered against them under the Anti-Terrorism Act and other sections

Our Correspondent
August 26, 2025

The PTI alleged that Khan’s detention conditions amounted to inhumane treatment. PHOTO: FILE

KARACHI: The Peerabad police have arrested 20 activists of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) including a regional official on sedition and arson charges.

A case has been registered against them under the Anti-Terrorism Act and other sections.

Another 80 unknown individuals have also been nominated in the case. According to the FIR, SHO Inspector Amin Ahmad Sheikh, along with other officials, was on patrol on August 24 when he received intelligence-based information that the regional head of PTI, Saeed Afridi, would hold a protest against military operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, specifically in Bajaur, and would be making provocative speeches against the state and its institutions.

Police personnel from various stations were then deployed in the area where protesters, led by Afridi and Ataullah, armed with sticks and batons, reached. They made inflammatory speeches. When police tried to stop them, they attacked, injuring two constables and damaging a police vehicle.

Police arrested 20 individuals, including Ataullah, Afridi, and others, registering a case against them.

 

[airhead]

The general is in no mood to negotiate. IK is probably realizing what a mistake it was to fire this guy. He is strong willed but so is IK so will be interesting to see who wins at the end. But guy says the general but my heart says IK

 

[ghazi52]

 

[Xestan]

“The operation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa should be stopped immediately. At one time in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the ANP was made unpopular. Instead of improving the situation, military operations against our own people only to please external forces make things worse. In these operations, our security forces are killed on one side and our own citizens on the other. Killing our own people always increases terrorism. The drone attacks on our side in Afghanistan and Pakistan should be stopped immediately.

I direct all the provincial and national assembly members and senators of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to sit together and resist for peace in the province and to stop the operations and drone attacks against our own people so that this problem can be resolved peacefully. On the one hand, people are facing floods and inflation and they will also face an operation, which is very painful. History is a witness that there is no permanent solution to peace except through negotiations.

Afghanistan is our brotherly Muslim country. Afghan refugees have been living here for three generations. When the Prophet (peace be upon him) migrated to Medina, Everyone opened their doors for them and that is why Ansar Medina is respected till date but we made the land narrow for our Muslim brothers. Pushing and expelling the refugees is very sad. Asim Munir is doing all this to please the anti-Taliban lobby and is deliberately imposing war where there is no war. These steps should be stopped immediately otherwise the situation will worsen further”

Former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s conversation with his sisters in Adiala Jail. September 10, 2025

 

[Fatman17]

Unverified news on X

 

[Fatman17]

I doubt it. Plus English please

 

[Fatman17]

Post translation please

 

[Xestan]

Post translation please

Thank you. Here's the translation.

“The operation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa should be stopped immediately. At one time in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the ANP was made unpopular. Instead of improving the situation, military operations against our own people only to please external forces make things worse. In these operations, our security forces are killed on one side and our own citizens on the other. Killing our own people always increases terrorism. The drone attacks on our side in Afghanistan and Pakistan should be stopped immediately.

I direct all the provincial and national assembly members and senators of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to sit together and resist for peace in the province and to stop the operations and drone attacks against our own people so that this problem can be resolved peacefully. On the one hand, people are facing floods and inflation and they will also face an operation, which is very painful. History is a witness that there is no permanent solution to peace except through negotiations.

Afghanistan is our brotherly Muslim country. Afghan refugees have been living here for three generations. When the Prophet (peace be upon him) migrated to Medina, Everyone opened their doors for them and that is why Ansar Medina is respected till date but we made the land narrow for our Muslim brothers. Pushing and expelling the refugees is very sad. Asim Munir is doing all this to please the anti-Taliban lobby and is deliberately imposing war where there is no war. These steps should be stopped immediately otherwise the situation will worsen further”

Former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s conversation with his sisters in Adiala Jail. September 10, 2025

 

[Forsvaret]

In these operations, our security forces are killed on one side and our own citizens on the other. Killing our own people always increases terrorism.

Asim Munir is doing all this to please the anti-Taliban lobby…

The title of this thread is misleading. Where did Imran Khan mention TTP?