Salman Akram Raja and PTI leaders say they are banned from entering Britain before elections

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) General Secretary Salman Akram Raja along with party founder Imran Khan’s spokesperson on legal affairs Naeem Panjutha and MPA Shaukat Basra were reportedly barred from entering Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) on Tuesday to take part in the final phase of campaigning ahead of the June 7 elections.

In an article on “We, along with friends from the ISF, were surrounded by police vehicles and expelled from the province,” he added.

In another message, the secretary-general said his name, along with those of those accompanying him, had been given to authorities so the group could be barred from entering Britain. He added that “the fundamental relationship between the public and the state, established on the basis of votes, has been broken.”

Read: PTI cries scandal after arrest of leaders in Britain

Furthermore, Raja claimed that authorities told him and the group that they had been asked to stop the group and ensure they did not enter Britain.

The PTI also issued a statement on its official X account, saying that the British police arrested the leaders at the first checkpoint as soon as they entered Gilgit.

Panjutha, who is part of the exile group, said the PTI was not allowed to campaign, writing that sometimes the party symbol was removed and other times authorities were ordered to carry out raids. “Everyone has the right to drive, but we are not let go,” he said.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Party president Junaid Akbar Khan was arrested by the British police in Hunza on Friday while campaigning for the upcoming elections. Akbar was visiting various parts of the region as part of PTI’s election campaign when he was arrested along with National Assembly members Saleemur Rehman and Syed Mehboob Shah.

Akbar said he was told to leave Gilgit because he did not have a no-objection certificate (NOC).

In response to the arrest and expulsion of Raja’s group from the province, Akbar lashed out at X, calling the incident “extremely shameful and reprehensible.” He added, “My question is: If the elections are truly free and transparent, then why such fear of the PTI and its leaders?

“Those who claim to run the elections: will the “transparency” of the elections be ensured by tying the hands and feet of political opponents, arresting them and expelling them from the province? Was this reign of darkness simply called democracy? » he asked.

Learn more: KP CM Afridi writes to UK’s top judge, seeks judicial intervention on election issues

Meanwhile, PTI provincial general secretary Ali Asghar Khan said “all limits of immodesty have been crossed”.

On May 30, senior PTI leader Asad Qaiser also claimed that he was not allowed to reach Islamabad airport and missed his flight to Skardu for election campaigning.

“Punjab Police did not allow entry to the Islamabad airport, blocked the approach routes to the airport and we and the general public had to face serious difficulties,” Qaiser said after the incident. The former Speaker of the National Assembly added that the police kept him in custody until his flight to Skardu departed.

Reports of PTI leaders claiming they were barred from campaigning in Britain for elections come as those of other political parties, such as the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan People’s Party, continue their efforts to mobilize voters in the region through public rallies and rallies.