Pakistan’s Information Minister said on Monday, July 15 (25 Cancer) that the government should ban Tehreek-e-Insaf if its leader, Imran Khan, is also in prison.

Khan has been in prison since August last year. He served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan from 2018 to April 2022 and was removed from the presidency after the no-confidence vote in the Parliament.

He is facing about 200 charges and some of these charges have been in custody since August last year. Imprisonment of Imran Khan caused widespread protests, to the extent that some of them attacked government and military facilities.

The government of Pakistan used this demonstration to justify the suppression of supporters of Imran Khan. In the parliamentary elections in February this year, the loyal candidates of Imran Khan were not allowed to enter the election campaign from the address of Hizb Tehreek-e-Insaf, and they became inevitable if they would contest as a permanent candidate.

A court in Pakistan on Saturday, July 13 (23 Cancer) overturned the conviction of Imran Khan, the former prime minister, in the case of illegal marriage, and a day before that, the court ruled that about 20 seats in the parliament should be given to Imran Khan’s party. Former Prime Minister of Pakistan, resigned.

Imran Khan will be sentenced for violating the Sharia because of his quick marriage with Bushra Bibi after his divorce and will spend months in jail with his wife. Imran Khan and his wife were each sentenced to seven years in prison in this case.

Attaullah Tarar, Pakistan’s Information Minister, told reporters that the government will refer the case of banning Hizb Tehreek-e-Insaf to the Supreme Court. And once again, Imran Khan was accused of disclosing confidential information of the government and Tehreek Seorsh.

Imran Khan, Pakistan was deprived of the right to protest the results of the elections in February, the members of this party were marginalized and the coalition of parties formed the government of Pakistan and took power.

The spokesperson of Hizb Tehreek-e-Insaf said in a statement that the government’s move to ban this party is “a sign of fear, because they have realized that they cannot threaten and put pressure on the courts.”

Zahid Hussain, a political analyst, says whether the government is thinking about banning Hizb Tehreek-e-Insaf or whether it is angry with the court’s decisions. He said: “They want to ban a political party if it has an elderly support base. Such a decision will ultimately turn into a disaster for the state itself.”

Osama Malik, a permanent legal expert, warns that it will be difficult for the government to convince the Supreme Court if a party will be banned altogether due to its small number of members. And he said: “It is against the constitution if freedom of assembly is guaranteed.”

A delegation of UN experts said last month that if Imran Khan’s arrest had “no legal basis”, apparently the arrest would have been approved because of competition in the elections. This delegation, while requesting for the immediate release of Imran Khan, said: “His prosecution was not based on the law, based on the reports, it was a tool for political purposes.”

Referring to the decision of the Pakistan government to ban this party, Roof Hassan, the head of the Information Department of the Tehreek-e-Insaf said: “We will not tolerate such a thing. The Tehreek-e-Insaf will become stronger than before. We will confront it.”