PTI Leader Shaukat Yousafzai Criticizes Party Leadership Over Islamabad Protest Handling
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shaukat Yousafzai has voiced dissatisfaction with the abrupt conclusion of the party’s protest in Islamabad, stating that the leadership’s approach left him “disappointed.”
Yousafzai criticized the lack of clear direction from the PTI leadership during the three-day protest, which commenced on November 24. He noted that, aside from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, no other senior party figure stepped up to lead the protest.
Yousafzai highlighted the apparent absence of consultation and planning within the leadership, questioning the decision to concentrate efforts solely on D-Chowk. He also expressed concern over the party’s failure to respond to the government’s offer for negotiations, despite widespread expectations of a strict government response at D-Chowk.
The PTI leader called for an internal review to understand why D-Chowk was chosen as the sole protest site and why prominent figures like Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Salman Akram Raja, and Sher Afzal Marwat were absent during the protests.
Amid the unrest, women and children were seen collecting items from a burnt truck previously used by Bushra Bibi, the wife of PTI founder Imran Khan, after security forces raided PTI supporters in Islamabad on November 27, 2024.
Yousafzai assured that Bushra Bibi and Chief Minister Gandapur were safe and currently in Mansehra, following reports from federal ministers that they fled the protest site in the same vehicle.
The aftermath of the protests saw hundreds of PTI supporters arrested and dozens of vehicles abandoned on Jinnah Avenue and Seventh Avenue. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, during a late-night press conference, mocked the KP chief minister, suggesting he be renamed “Ali Amin Bhagoora (deserter)” instead of Ali Amin Gandapur.
