&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Pakistan: Punjab Assembly bans Imran Khan, PTI, drags 'enemy' India into rhetoric while slamming ex-PM")
The Punjab Assembly on Tuesday (Dec 9) passed a resolution calling for a ban on Pakistan's jailed former prime minister Imran Khan and his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), branding them "anti-state". The motion was adopted amid sharp political tensions and an escalating confrontation between the military, the ruling coalition and the opposition.
Imran Khan's "anti-army" rhetoric
The move comes days after the military’s media wing chief, Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, accused Khan of promoting what he described as "anti-army" narratives. The ISPR chief said such rhetoric had crossed the line from politics and now posed a national security threat.
Also read | Pakistani Taliban gunmen storm Pakistan checkpoint near Afghan border, six soldiers killed
Since that press briefing, leaders from the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and PTI have traded barbs. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said Imran Khan had used similarly harsh language against political opponents in the past and argued the PTI had no grounds to object to criticism from the military. PTI leaders, however, dismissed the allegations as "ridiculous," insisting the former prime minister was "not a security threat".
PTI, Imran Khan, banned for insulting institutions that countered "enemy" like India
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The resolution was introduced by PML-N lawmaker Tahir Pervaiz and passed by the treasury benches after PTI lawmakers boycotted the proceedings. While the text stopped short of naming PTI or Imran Khan directly, its intent was clear.
The resolution, as per a DAWN report, praised state institutions, saying they had successfully defended Pakistan against far larger adversaries, including India. "The institutions that safeguard Pakistan on every front and have successfully countered an enemy five times larger, such as India, are vital to the country’s integrity and stability".
It also accused a political party and its founder of "acting as a tool of the enemy state...making statements against the country and spreading chaos". It called for a ban on both and urged legal action against any individual, political or otherwise, found guilty under the law, with "appropriate punishment" to follow. The Assembly also paid tribute to the leadership and personnel of institutions tasked with safeguarding Pakistan's security.
