The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has referred to the interview of the party’s forcefully disappeared leader Usman Dar on a private TV channel as “old wine in a new bottle” because it was delivered after his mysterious disappearance after May 9 violence.
In a statement released after the interview’s airing, the PTI claimed that after 5 months and 24 days of “enforced disappearance,” the interview had no legal validity and no public value.
The PTI expressed worry that same “tactics” would also be used against other party leaders.
“We might see similar dramas airing in the future, and Sadaqat Abbasi, Farrukh Habib, and Sheikh Rashid might also encounter similar circumstances.”
The party demanded that a judicial commission should fully investigate what happened on May 9.
پاکستان تحریک انصاف کے جبری طور پر لاپتہ کئے گئے رہنما عثمان ڈار کی منظرِ عام پر اچانک آمد اور ایک نجی ٹی وی چینل کو انٹرویو
نجی ٹی وی چینل کو عثمان ڈار کا انٹرویو ”نئی بوتل میں پرانی شراب“ قرار
24 روز تک نامعلوم اغوا کاروں کی حراست میں گزارنے کے بعد عثمان ڈار کی ایک نجی ٹی وی… pic.twitter.com/eBHXuoBiIv
— PTI (@PTIofficial) October 4, 2023
On the other hand, Omar Ayub, secretary general of PTI, questioned the circumstances in which the interview was conducted and referred to it as a “staged encounter”.
VLOG on Usman Dar’s ‘Staged Encounter’ TV interview with an Anchor of a Private TC Channel. No matter what, inshallah the next PM of Pakistan will be Imran Khan. @PTIofficial pic.twitter.com/bntZBN3Xis
— Omar Ayub Khan (@OmarAyubKhan) October 4, 2023
The interview with Dar has alarmed the relatives of party members who have gone missing, according to PTI leader Hammad Azhar.
The interview with Usman Dar has caused great anxiety among the relatives of other PTI abductees.
According to the former minister, ”families of other abducted individuals of PTI are now extremely distressed after seeing Usman Dar’s interview. They are fearing for the safety and well being of their loved ones. They obviously know that such forced statements have come as a result of unbearable torture.”
The families of other abducted individuals of PTI are now extremely distressed after seeing Usman Dar’s interview. They are fearing for the safety and well being of their loved ones. They obviously know that such forced statements have come as a result of unbearable torture.
— Hammad Azhar (@Hammad_Azhar) October 4, 2023
