KARACHI: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) former president Javed Hashmi on Sunday said that former ISI chief Gen Shuja Pasha was the brain behind PTI’s 126-day protest in Islamabad.

Talking on DawnNews’ show ‘Doosra Rukh,’ the disgruntled PTI leader said workers had been instructed to drag Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif out of his official residence, while Tahirul Qadri’s workers had been asked to ransack the Parliament with support from PTI.

“Gen Pasha had vowed to oust Nawaz Sharif, Khawaja Asif and Chaudhry Nisar at all costs,” said Hashmi.

He went on to say that Imran Khan had been in regular contact with Gen Kayani and Gen Pasha during the protest movement.

“It was only after I had joined the PTI that I realized the mess I had gotten into,” said the former PTI president.

Suspended by his party in September 2014 following allegations against Imran Khan, Hashmi had announced his resignation from PTI's presidency and its membership soon afterwards. At that time Hashmi had said he could no longer continue being member of a party 'conspiring' to dismantle democracy in Pakistan.

Talking about the situation in Karachi, Hashmi said MQM will have to eliminate violent elements from among its ranks for a sustainable political future.

Opinion

Editorial

Trump in Beijing
Updated 14 May, 2026

Trump in Beijing

China is no longer just a rising economic power.
Growing numbers
14 May, 2026

Growing numbers

FORWARD-looking nations do not just celebrate their advantages; they turn them into tangible gains. They also ...
No culling
14 May, 2026

No culling

CRUELTY implies an administrative failure to adopt humane solutions. Despite the Lahore High Court’s orders to use...
Unyielding stances
Updated 13 May, 2026

Unyielding stances

Every day that passes without clarity on how and when the war will end introduces fresh intensity to the uncertainty roiling global markets and adds to the economic turmoil the world must bear because of it.
Gwadar rising?
13 May, 2026

Gwadar rising?

COULD the Middle East conflict prove to be a boon for the Gwadar port? Islamabad’s push to position Gwadar as a...
Locked in
13 May, 2026

Locked in

THE acquittal of as many as 74 PTI activists by a Peshawar court in a case pertaining to the May 2023 violence is a...