• Salman Akram Raja claims recipients have ‘read and understood’ Imran’s correspondence, says PTI founder ‘not seeking favours’
• Opposition alliance steps up efforts for ‘grand meeting’, scheduled to be held in Islamabad this week

KARACHI: The PTI believes that recent letters — purportedly written by its founder Imran Khan — have reached their intended recipients, and been “read and understood” by those addressed, despite denials by the military establishment.

The claim was made by the party’s top leadership on Sunday during a media interaction at the Mazar-i-Quaid, where they paid tribute to the founder of the nation.

The visit marked the final leg of their trip to Karachi under the Tehreek-i-Tahaffuz-i-Ayeen Pakistan (TTAP) banner, aiming to strengthen their preparations for a grand political meeting in Islamabad, scheduled for February 25 and 26.

The opposition alliance is organising a grand meeting of political parties and the PTI leaders were in town to invite the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) to the moot.

It may be noted that the PTI chief had supposedly written multiple letters to the army chief, expressing his grievances and offering remedies to bridge the alleged gulf between the army and the public.

However, the military denied receiving any correspondence from the former premier, while also announcing that it would not entertain such letters, even if received. The PTI only shared the contents of these letters on social media platforms instead of the entire text, which raised questions about the existence of such letters.

A party insider had told Dawn that one of the letters supposedly written to the army chief “did not exist,” which was why a draft was not shared with the media.

Meet the press

PTI leader Salman Akram Raja clarified his stance during an address at the Karachi Press Club, where the opposition alliance leaders participated in the “Meet the Press” programme. He rejected the notion that the PTI chief was seeking any favours from the establishment through his letters.

“No one should be concerned about this,” the PTI secretary general responded when asked about the fate of the letters Imran Khan sent to the army chief.

“The letters have reached their intended destination. They’ve reached those who are the true force behind a party with only 17 seats. Not only have they arrived, but they’ve also been read and understood,” he claimed.

“The letters were not written to request any intervention in politics,” he stated.

“The intervention is already there. There is, in fact, a clear path that leads to the Constitution and fundamental human rights. The question is: who is obstructing that path? Those responsible for the obstruction were simply asked to step aside and focus solely on their constitutional role — nothing more was stated [in the letters] by Imran Khan.”

Mahmood Khan Achakzai, the chief of Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, in his brief address said that the country was engulfed in a crisis due to wrong rulers.

“Pakistan was once a developing country, but it has ended up in the hands of incompetent leaders,” he said, stressing that progress can only be achieved if everything is aligned with the Constitution.

“Better late than never; we [opposition parties] have all united on one platform,” he added.

He also emphasised that without upholding the Constitution, the country cannot function effectively. He also repeated his claim that the February 8 elections were “sold out,” pointing out that it was not the people who won the elections but rather the seats of parliament that were “bought”.

“The truth about the February 8 elections is well known, with some seats allegedly being sold for amounts ranging from Rs100 million to Rs200 million,” he alleged.

“Now is the time to undo the wrongdoings of nearly all political parties, and the only way to do that is through a united struggle and mutual respect for each other’s mandate,” he added.

Hamid Raza of the Sunni Ittehad Council said that the “gravity” of the situation escalated to the point where even parliament was unable to function.

“As the chairman of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Human Rights, I decided to call a meeting regarding the November 26 ‘massacre’ and summon all the relevant officials,” he said.

“When we issued notices to those officials, including police officers, the homes of my staff were raided, and they were harassed. Furthermore, the item regarding the November 26 incident was removed from the meeting’s agenda,” he claimed.

“Despite this, we remain committed to a peaceful and constitutional struggle. That’s why we are uniting all political forces who believe it is time to take the right side,” he added.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2025