As it was reported on this blog around 8PM Imran Khan was released from DG Khan jail, eye witnesses and close family friends say that he was visibly weak and has been on a hunger and water strike for over four days, he had commenced the strike well before it became public which is approximately three days. For now he is reported to be resting with a close family friend in DG Khan and will fly to Islamabad sometime tomorrow. There are serious concerns from all his well wishers asking him to discontinue but for now he is adamant and has resolved to continue until the Judiciary is restored. We should be getting a more complete medical report by tomorrow including maybe an insight into the future course of action. Watch his BBC Telephonic interview from DG Khan
Imran Khan Released
reports are just coming in that Imran Khan has been released
Update @ 1330: Justice Wajeehuddin supports Imran’s hunger strike for Judiciary
Supreme Court Justice (Retd) Wajeehuddin Ahmed has strongly supported the hunger strike of Mr Imran Khan for the restoration of the judiciary. In a discussion with Dr Arif Alvi the Vice President of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf he said that the hunger strike is a most significant part of the noble struggle being waged by the nation. He appealed to the Pakistani people to bring about a change and put pressure on the establishment to mend their ways and return to the pre-PCO status.
He said that restoration of the judiciary is much more important than the sham election or the issue of the Presidential uniform. There can be no change until Musharraf resigns and the constitution is followed in letter and spirit to herald a caretaker government of consensus to hold elections within 90 days. Everything being done now is a sham. He said that the struggle of Mr Imran Khan should show the light to the youth who can take Pakistan out of this mess. He appealed to the international community and the local and international legal fraternity recognize Mr Imran Khan’s struggle and to put pressure on the Musharraf regime to see the writing on the wall.
Imran Khan’s Hunger Strike
Mr Imran Khan the Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has gone on hunger strike for the restoration of the judiciary in Pakistan. He is in under arrest in D G Khan prison and has been charged with treason and terrorism, an offence which can be tried under a military court and he can be sentenced to death. With this, the struggle in Pakistan is entering a very significant stage.
Going on hunger strike is the most effective non-violent political strategy used in the world where a confined individual, can do no more but challenge the status quo by putting his own life at stake. The most celebrated hunger strike was that of the prisoners of the Irish Republican Army led by Bobby Sands. They went on a no-food no-water hunger strike and died after 59 to 73 days. They had willed that their family will not agree to drip feeding also even after they became unconscious. Although ten men died during the course of the hunger strike, thirteen others were taken off hunger strike, either due to medical reasons or after intervention by their families. Many of them still suffer from the effects of the strike, with problems including digestive, visual, physical and neurological disabilities. Mahatma Gandhi frequently went on hunger strikes but he never went beyond 21 days. He
drank water and fluids during this period and used it as an effective tool for independence of India along with Jinnah’s legal battles.
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Update @ 0346: Punjab University 14th Nov Anti-Jamiat Protest Video
A number of videos have been posted of the Anti-Jamiat rally held Punjab University on the 14th of November the after Jamiat activists handed over Imran Khan to the authorities, this video is truly inspiring and shows the level of motivation found amongst the students rallying for Imran Khan and at the same time condemning Jamiat. It is in the youth that lies the potential to create a change
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNRJ0PHcItI[/youtube]
Update @ 1730: Imran Khan has started a Hunger Strike until Judiciary is restored
Through very reliable sources with in the Pakistan Tehrek-e-Insaf, it has come to point that Imran Khan while being imprisoned under Anti-Terrorism charges in Dera Ghazi Khan jail has gone on a hunger strike until the restoration of the Judiciary of Pakistan to its pre-martial law November 3rd status.
UPDATE 1740:
ISLAMABAD (AFP) – Pakistani cricket hero Imran Khan began a hunger strike Monday in the prison where he was sent last week for protesting against emergency rule, his spokesman told AFP. He said Khan, who now heads his own opposition party, wanted a restoration of the constitution and reinstatement of judges sacked when Persident Pervez Musharraf imposed the emergency just over two weeks ago. “Imran Khan has gone on hunger strike for an indefinite period,” spokesman Saifullah Niazi said. “He is demanding the restoration of the judiciary and restoration of the constitution,” Niazi said.
Khan is in Deraghazi Khan jail, normally used to house terror detainees and hardened prisoners. He was picked up last Wednesday and charged under a section of anti-terror legislation which stipulates a minimum punishment of at least seven years and up to life in prison. Khan had been put under house arrest after emergency rule was declared on November 3 but slipped the net and went into hiding, communicating via email and video. He was arrested after emerging from hiding last Wednesday at a university campus in the eastern city of Lahore. Lahore police said then that he would face charges for inciting people to pick up arms, calling for civil disobedience and “spreading hatred.” Khan, who led Pakistan to cricket World Cup glory in 1992, had called for Musharraf to face the death penalty for imposing emergency rule.
Update @ 0314: Women Activists defying the Martial Law in Pakistan
It must be noted that it is not only men, students and politicians (a very few) that are standing firm against this Martial Law imposed by General Pervaiz Musharraf but at the same time it is heartening to see women stepping forward and locking hands with other activists to express their right of opinion. Often these women are also rounded up by the police and subsequently sent to jail.
In this day and age there is a never ending debate on the equality of men and women, even in an Islamic country like Pakistan, but despite the debate our society still has culturally maintained a level of dignity and respect for women. For this very reason policewomen are deployed to round up any female protesters and the male officers are not allowed to participate in this exercise. Sadly when we were a witness to the mayhem a few days back during a protest in Lahore after Imran Khan’s arrest where his sisters were manhandled and then later you see this image of a plain clothes man shoving a female into the awaiting jail car, one does scream out in utter disgust.
The video can be viewed from one of my earlier posts when one such woman was actually roughed up and deliberately shoved to the ground by a circle of Policemen in utter ruthlessness all I can say God Bless Pakistan

More images of Women Activists defying the Martial Law in Pakistan
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How to Save Pakistan By Imran Khan
By Imran Khan
Make no mistake; Pakistan faces a grave threat from the creeping chaos, a by-product of the most shameful demonstration of power politics. There are many threats confronting our society. The threat of extremism is just one which is essentially a consequence of policies that serve foreign interests at the cost of the fundamental rights of our citizens. On 9/11, yes, we should have stood with the US when it was attacked by terrorists. But our cooperation should have been within the ambit of our constitution and law. No civilized society will ever allow its own army, raised and armed at a great cost to society, to be used so mercilessly against its own citizens and expect business as usual. In a society where the majority is without fundamental rights, without education, without economic opportunities, without healthcare, the use of sheer force will only expand the extremist fringe and contract the majority moderate.Our military rulers are incapable of understanding that the real owners of the country are its people who must have the right as, political sovereigns, to decide without fear and coercion who should rule them. In India the only qualification for Lalo Prasad or his domestic housewife Rabri Devi to rule Bihar was the mandate of the people. Can we imagine our ruling elite ever accepting a similar peoples verdict. This fundamental question of Who Owns Pakistan must be decided once and for all.
In the absence of democracy and rule of law, extremism and religious fundamentalism will continue to grow at a frightening pace. The more the present regime bows to Washingtons desire to “do more and the more innocent Pakistani blood is shed under the garb of fighting the war on terror or curbing extremism, the more Pakistan moves towards becoming a “failed state, and the more people would resort to picking up arms against the security forces.
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Update @ 2013: BBC Report on the day Imran Khan got arrested
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfHWstFu8mY[/youtube]
Credit: Ramblings from Afar
Update @ 0404: PTI Issues a Statement Condemning Imran Khan’s Arrest amongst other demands
Received via email from the Pakistan Tehreek Insaf Information Secretariat
An urgent meeting of the Central Executive Committee of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf was held in Lahore on the 15th of November which continued late into the night. The meeting condemned the arrest of Chairman Imran Khan and the disgraceful violence committed on him during the arrest by some Islami Jamiat Tulaba workers and Agency personnel. The CEC believes that this is a deliberate attempt to humiliate the heroes and icons of Pakistan in an attempt to demoralize the people of Pakistan. However the CEC appreciated the enormous support extended by the youth and students to Mr Imran Khan and the PTI during the subsequent two days.
It condemned the fact that Mr Khan has been shifted to Dera Ghazi Khan in handcuffs to humiliate the people of Pakistan and their just struggle for democracy. The CEC fears that the charge of terrorism on Mr Khan is with the intention to try him under the new draconian law of the Pakistan Army Act under a military court.
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Update @ 0351: Students speak out against IJT
A number of students in Punjab University have spoken out against Islami Jamiat Talaba, as reported by Lahore Metroblog where they have captured an ARY Interview and have translated it in English for our International audience
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOI5nByvOLM[/youtube]
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Update @ 1602: LUMS Students Movement express Poltical Autonomy
Press Release, issued by the Student Movement at Lahore University of Management Sciences
As our movement gains in strength, support, momentum and therefore, media attention, the students of the protest movement at the Lahore University of Management Sciences would like to clarify our position on a number of points.
Our movement is fundamentally a non-partisan, civil society movement which was begun by students last week as a spontaneous reaction against the imposition of a state of emergency in our country. We are united in a clear and principled commitment to the reinstatement of the judiciary and the restoration of the Constitution and of basic civil rights, the release of illegally detained prisoners and an end to preposterous curbs on the media. Our aim is to uphold and defend the autonomy of the judiciary in Pakistan. As we increase communication with students from other educational institutions in the country, we are confident and hopeful that we can all unite behind a particular principle – the critical necessity of the sovereignty of the judiciary for sustainable
political and social development in Pakistan.
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Update @ 1424: Manhandling of Imran Khan’s sisters in Lahore
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LGwZKrS9p0[/youtube]
Update @ 0155: 2500+ Students rally against Jamiat at Punjab University
An extensive coverage at Lahore Metroblogs of the protests at Punjab University following the betrayal of a few IJT activist who handed the Cricketer turned politician to the police to the bureaucracy
The update on Imran Khan is that he was charged under the Anti-Terrorism charge for inciting his supporters to stand up (take up arms) against the government and has been shifted to Kot Lakhpat Jail. Before his arrest he gave an extensive interview with Newsweek which can be read here
PU witnesses largest ever anti-jamiat protests: The situation at the University’s New Campus started to develop at around 11:00 AM when students from the University’s Law College, Institute of Communication Studies, IBA, and adjacent institutes started a march to protest Jamiat’s role in Imran Khan’s arrest by proceeding from one department to another, gathering more people with them. In no time, the youthful crowd had grown to more than 200 people, mainly from the departments where Jamiat traditionally has little or no presence.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DPzvPENwaU[/youtube]
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Update @ 1933: Imran Khan to be charged under terrorism law
Geo News reports that the Lahore police have arrested and registered a case agaisnt Imran khan under the Anti-Terrorism law. Lahore Police Chief Malik Mohammad Iqbal has been quoted to have said “Through his speeches he has been inciting people to pick up arms, he has been calling for civil disobedience, he was spreading hatred,”