The UK chapter of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) issued a strong condemnation following an incident in which Justice Athar Minallah of the Supreme Court was heckled in London. The party clarified that those involved in the incident did not represent the PTI.
The condemnation came late on Saturday night after videos surfaced showing Justice Minallah being harassed and heckled on the streets of London. In the videos shared widely on social media, the judge was seen being escorted to a car while being shouted at by a group of people who chanted slogans in support of the PTI and against the army.
Justice Minallah was in London as one of the guests for Saturday’s ‘Future of Pakistan Conference’ at the London School of Economics.
In response to the incident, PTI UK posted a statement by Jahanzeb Khan, the senior vice president of the party’s chapter, on its official account. The statement, also shared by PTI’s official account and PTI Secretary General Omar Ayub Khan, strongly condemned the treatment towards Justice Athar Minallah, emphasizing that the individuals involved did not represent the PTI and that PTI UK did not endorse such behavior.
Jahanzeb alleged that there were individuals referred to as ‘PTI supporters’ by certain sympathetic journalists to the N league in London who actually collaborated with some N league journalists themselves.
He claimed that these journalists orchestrated situations involving these individuals to create commotion whenever any government official from Pakistan visited London, in order to capture videos and blame PTI, spreading negative narratives against the party. Jahanzeb clarified that protests conducted by overseas Pakistanis and genuine PTI supporters only occurred under the official call of PTI UK and its regional bodies.
Taimur Saleem Khan Jhagra of PTI stated that there was no justification for the heckling of Justice Athar Minallah in London and emphasized the need to put an end to such behavior.
Journalist Zarrar Khuhro commented on the incident, highlighting that ironically, Justice Minallah provided the most relief despite pressure.
The incident involving Justice Minallah is not the first of its kind involving PTI supporters. Last August, PTI supporters had pursued Judge Humayun Dilawar during a judicial training course at the University of Hull, and in September 2022, then-information minister Marriyum Aurangzeb was heckled in London by people wearing PTI colors in a shop.
