Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, along with party founder Imran Khan’s Spokesman on Legal Affairs Naeem Panjutha and MPA Shaukat Basra were reportedly barred from entering Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) on Tuesday to partake in the final phase of campaigning ahead of the upcoming June 7 polls.
In a post on X, Raja stated that the PTI leaders were stopped from proceeding into GB, with his name listed with the deputy superintendent of police. “We, along with friends who had come from ISF, have been surrounded by police vehicles and expelled from the province,” he added.
In a separate post, the secretary general stated that his name, along with those with him, was given to the authorities so that the group may be barred from entering GB. He added that “the foundational relationship between the public and the state, formed on the basis of votes, has been broken.”
Further, Raja claimed that the authorities told him and the group that they had been directed to stop the group and ensure they did not enter GB. The PTI also posted a statement on its official X account, saying that GB police stopped the leaders at the first checkpoint as soon as they entered Gilgit.
Panjutha, part of the exiled group, stated that the PTI was not being allowed to campaign, writing that sometimes the party symbol was taken away and other times, the authorities were ordered to conduct raids. “Everyone else is being allowed vehicles, but we’re not being let go,” he said.