The PTI’s UK chapter has issued a condemnation after Justice Athar Minallah of the Supreme Court was heckled in London, saying that those involved did not represent the party.
The condemnation was issued late on Saturday night after videos emerged of Justice Minallah being harassed and heckled in the streets of London.
Videos shared widely on social media showed the judge being escorted to a car by a group of people as others shouted at him in the background. The hecklers chanted slogans in support of the PTI and against the army.
It should be mentioned that Justice Minallah was one of the guests for Saturday’s ‘Future of Pakistan Conference’ at the London School of Economics.
In response to Justice Minallah being heckled, the official account for PTI UK posted a statement by Jahanzeb Khan, the senior vice president of the party’s chapter. The post was also shared by the party’s official account and PTI Secretary General Omar Ayub Khan.
“PTI UK strongly condemns the treatment meted out towards honourable Justice Athar Minallah. Those individuals who did it do not represent the PTI, nor does PTI UK endorse any such behaviour,” the party’s chapter said.
Meanwhile, the statement attributed to Jahanzeb said,“ It has come to our attention that there are some notorious individuals who are often referred to as ‘PTI supporters’ by certain journalists sympathetic to the N league in London.“
He alleged that those journalists “actually collaborate with some of the N league journalists themselves”.
“These journalists deliberately orchestrate situations involving these individuals to create commotion whenever any government official from Pakistan visits London,” he said.
“They do this in order to capture videos and blame PTI, further spreading their negative narrative against the PTI. It is important to note that protests conducted by overseas Pakistanis and genuine PTI supporters only occur under the official call of PTI UK and its regional bodies,” Jahanzeb said.
PTI’s Taimur Saleem Khan Jhagra said there was “absolutely no justification for the heckling of Justice Athar Minallah in London”.
“We have to make this kind of behaviour a thing of the past,” he said.
Meanwhile, reacting to the development, journalist Zarrar Khuhro said, “Ironically Justice Minallah provided the most relief despite pressure.”
Last August, PTI supporters had pursued Judge Humayun Dilawar as he undertook a judicial training course with other judges at the University of Hull.
Dozens of PTI supporters had gathered at the campus to protest against the judge, calling him out for unfairly sentencing party founder Imran to a three-year jail term in the Toshakhana case.
In September 2022, then-information minister Marriyum Aurangzeb was also heckled in London. Videos widely shared on social media showed Aurangzeb being harassed and heckled by people wearing PTI colours in a shop.
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