Social media users have schooled Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan for spreading misinformation after he tweeted an old video of a burning truck citing it belonged to his party’s lawmaker, Malik Shahzad Awan, from Karachi.

Both Khan and his party’s social media team, took to Twitter to share videos of burning trucks claiming that they belonged to the lawmaker. They also alleged that Awan was being pressured to quit the party and following his refusal to do so, his vehicles were burned.

However, the claims were soon refuted by social media users who called out the PTI chief for propagating lies and misinforming his followers.

They verified that the videos were, in fact, of trucks which were burned during a fire incident in Nowshera’s oil depot a year ago.

The cricketer-turned-politician and PTI eventually had to delete the tweets, which they earlier posted in haste without verifying the origins of the video.

In the now-deleted tweets, Khan wrote: “Our MPA from Sindh (Karachi) Malik Shahzad Awan was pressured to leave PTI. When refused, his fleet was put on fire and destroyed. All PTI ticket holders and aspirants today are facing this fascism, our fundamental rights are being openly violated while our judiciary helplessly watches on.”

The PTI, meanwhile, tweeted: “Our MPA from Sindh Malik Shahzad Awan’s trucks have been put on fire when he refused to leave PTI. His business has been completely destroyed.”

After the civil and military leadership resolved to punish the rioters and instigators of the May 9 violent protests which erupted after the arrest of Khan — who faces a slew of cases ranging from corruption to terrorism — droves of PTI leaders have quit the party with some either shifting their allegiance to other parties and others bidding adieu to politics altogether.

The exodus confronting his party has been termed by Khan as ‘forced divorce’, particularly after prominent names including Shireen Mazari, Fawad Chaudhry, Imran Ismail and Ali Zaidi, among others, parted ways with PTI and Khan.

“We had all heard about forced marriages in Pakistan but for PTI a new phenomenon has emerged, forced divorces,” Khan — a former prime minister — said in a tweet.

The party’s leaders have been announcing their departure as not only public and private buildings but also military installations — including the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi — were attacked on May 9.

Expressing their regret over the May 9 mayhem, two more Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders — singer-turned-politician Abrarul Haq and Senator Saifullah Niazi — on Friday announced quitting the party.

The PTI leaders’ mass exodus started when the security forces launched a crackdown against the party following the attacks on the civil and military institutions, including the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi and the Lahore Corps Commander’s House (Jinnah House). 

The riots were triggered by PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s arrest from Islamabad High Court in the Al-Qadir Trust graft case on May 9 — a day the army dubbed as “Black Day”.

Addressing a presser in Lahore, Haq said: “I regret standing with Imran Khan.”

• Pakistan Army Act, Official Secrets Act applicable to activities in military areas: minister.
• “Many sensitive items were also present in Lahore Corps Commanders House.”
• Says “only 6” out of nearly 500 cases are being processed to be tried under Army Act.

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said Friday that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s possible trial in connection with the May 9 mayhem falls under the jurisdiction of military courts.

Talking to a media outlet, he said the Pakistan Army Act was applicable to all those who entered, sent other people, or abetted those who entered restricted areas.

Sanaullah said the Pakistan Army Act and the Official Secrets Act were applicable to activities in military areas. “The Jinnah House is the residence of the [Lahore] corps commander and his camp office. Many sensitive items were also present in Jinnah House.”

The minister was referring to the attack on the Jinnah House by enraged PTI workers on May 9 following Khan’s arrest in the Al-Qadir Trust case. During the days-long protest, private and public properties were vandalised in cities across the country and PTI workers also attacked military installations, including the Jinnah House and the General Headquarters (GHQ) entrance.

The military has dubbed May 9 a “Black Day” and insisted that all those involved in the vandalism of military installations would be tried under the Pakistan Army Act and the Official Secrets Act. Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir has said the legal process in this regard has been started.

Earlier today, Sanaullah said that “only six” out of nearly 500 cases filed after the May 9 vandalism are being processed to be tried under the Army Act, rejecting the perception created by the PTI that all of those arrested will face military courts.

“The remaining will be tried by ordinary courts,” he said in a presser today in a bid to clear the air regarding the government’s crackdown against those allegedly involved in the May 9 mayhem.

“Various analyses and conspiracies have been spreading … so I thought it best to appear here and state the facts and figures,” Sanaullah said.

Sharing details about the legal action taken so far against the vandals who had attacked government and military installations, the interior minister said that following the riots, 499 First Information Reports (FIRs) had been registered in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

“Of these, 88 have been registered under the Anti-Terrorism Act [ATA], while 411 have been registered on other charges.”

Sanaullah further shared that 3,944 suspects had been arrested in the two provinces, adding 2,588 of them were taken into custody from Punjab, while 1,099 were arrested by KP authorities.

The interior minister added that another 5,536 arrests were made in other cases; however, of these, 80% have been released on bail.

Moreover, in a bid to clear the air regarding the military courts, he categorically denied rumours that all cases would be tried by military courts and explained that only seven of the 499 cases are being processed to be tried in military courts.

“It is being said that everything is being taken to military courts. This is not true. Only 19 accused have been transferred to military courts in Punjab and 14 in KP. Nowhere else are these measures being taken,” he clarified.