Junaid Akbar was elected unopposed as chairman of the Public Accounts Committee in January 2025. Photo: Express/File
PESHAWAR:
The PTI announced that it would observe November 26 as a “Black Day” to mark the first anniversary of the start of the party’s violent protests in Islamabad.
The former ruling party chose not to hold a major nationwide protest and instead ordered workers to stage regional-level protests for the release of its incarcerated founder, Imran Khan.
In a social media post, PTI Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa president Junaid Akbar said the party’s regional organizations have been instructed to hold district-level protests.
He said members of the national and provincial assemblies should visit the homes of workers who died during last year’s unrest and express solidarity with their families.
Akbar added that the PTI would hold a Quran recitation in Hayatabad, Peshawar, followed by a protest rally.
He said the party leadership had decided that instead of organizing a big nationwide protest, workers should mobilize at the district level as part of their strategy to mark the day.
The November 26 protest organized by the PTI, which triggered a large series of arrests, was aimed at pressuring the government to release Imran Khan. The Islamabad administration has arrested several PTI workers, citing security threats and public order violations.
The protest, which drew thousands of people to the capital under the leadership of Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi and former KP chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur, quickly degenerated into clashes with security forces.
According to the FIR filed after the event, protesters armed with guns, stones and batons attacked police and Rangers personnel.
