British MPs express willingness to ‘internationalise’ PTI grievances on state clampdown – Pakistan

Although its cause has always found sympathetic ears in Western democracies, British parliamentarians on Tuesday hinted that they would like to help the PTI “internationalise” its case over the alleged intimidation and harassment faced by the party following its ouster from power in 2022.

The remarks came during a hearing held at the House of Lords which saw more than a dozen parliamentarians listen as PTI figures detailed allegations of electoral fraud, the breakdown of the rule of law and prolonged incarceration of party founder Imran Khan, as well as growing censorship and intimidation by way of arrests and abductions.

Jointly hosted by Conservative peer Lord Daniel Hannan and British Pakistani Labour MP Naz Shah, the event was also attended by former Tory home secretary Priti Patel, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, Lord Tariq Ahmad of Wimbledon and Labour MP Naushaba Khan, among others.

During his remarks, the Tory peer suggested that British parliamentarians could “internationalise this issue [of PTI intimidation] beyond the UK.

“I would like us to do a cross-party letter from our colleagues to elected members across the US and Australia,” he said, as several lawmakers asked the PTI leaders what “tangible steps” could be taken by them to address this issue.

The meeting comes weeks after the US House of Representatives adopted a bi-partisan resolution with an overwhelming majority, demanding a probe into the February 8 elections and condemning widespread human rights violations in Pakistan.

This concern also echoed during today’s discussion, when Shah joked to Priti Patel that if Pakistan-style vote-counting took place in the UK, “your party would still be in government”.

Lord Hannan opened by saying that as friends of Pakistan, “we cannot be indifferent to what is happening in a friendly country.”

“I reiterate the point that we are friends of Pakistan. This is not an anti-Pakistan meeting — it’s a pro-Pakistan meeting,” Shah stressed.

Shah added that in the past she had spoken about the arrests of journalists in Pakistan but also about “what is happening in Bangladesh or in [Narendra] Modi’s India when it comes to press freedom and minority rights.

“You can either be on the right side of human rights or not — you can’t pick and choose. We use a similar yardstick across the globe but Pakistan is closer in terms of vested interests for me.”

Hannan later said it was “wonderful to have so many MPs and peers from all parties at our hearing into irregularities at the recent Pakistan election and the continuing detention of Imran Khan.”

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The government has already announced plans to ban PTI from politics and try its leader for sedition, over charges of violating the Constitution. An imp­ortant cabinet meeting, which was expected to consider the issue of banning the opposition PTI today was postponed due to the prime minister’s “hectic schedule”, PM House sources had said.

Earlier this month, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention held that Imran’s prosecution and detention in the cipher and one of the two Toshakhana cases against him were “without legal basis” and politically motivated to exclude him from competing in the political arena.

The working group had requested the government to take the steps necessary to “remedy the situation of Mr Khan without delay and bring it into conformity with the relevant international norms”.

The working group had said the appropriate remedy would be to release Imran immediately and accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations.

It has also called on the government to ensure a full and independent investigation of the circumstances surrounding the arbitrary deprivation of Imran’s liberty and to take appropriate measures against those responsible for the violation of his rights.

The working group referred the case to the office of two UN special rapporteurs for appropriate action.

A detailed version of the story will appear in Wednesday’s paper.