Pakistan: Awami National party protests against Imran Khan's "indecent remarks" on Pakhtuns

Peshawar [Pakistan], August 4 : Pakistan's Awami National Party (ANP) on Wednesday demostrated against former Pakistan Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan for allgedly using indecent remarks against Pakhtuns during a fund raising match for his party abroad.
As per the News International, a large number of protestors gathered in front of the Peshawar Press Club to register their protest. The spokesperson of ANP, Samar Haroon Bilour led the protest.
Former Member of the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Yasin Khalil, Sana Gulzar, Sher Rehman, trade leader Mujabur Rehman also joined the protest.
The protestors raised slogans against Imran Khan and asked him to apologise to the dwellers of Peshawar, in particular, and residents of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in general for the insulting appellation used by him.
They said that the verdict of Election Commission of Pakistan in the foreign funding case against the PTI had proved that Imran Khan received prohibited funding from foreign nationals.
Member of Provincial Assembly Samar Haroon Bilour said that Peshawar was once the city of flowers and is the heart of the entire Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but, "PTI chief had given it a bad name during cricket matches arranged for fund-raising for his party abroad."
She said the people of Peshawar city would not tolerate the humiliation of the city. "The PTI chief must apologise to the people of Peshawar and offer regrets for using a bad name for Peshawar," she added.
Samar Bilour said that Imran Khan must learn about the history, traditions, and values of the cities and people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as his party had got maximum seats during the past two elections from this province, the News International reported.
ANP leaders said Pakhtuns had respect for PTI and Imran Khan, but he totally disregarded their sympathies.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), in its verdict on the "prohibited funding" case, on Tuesday, said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf had received the prohibited funds and issued a show-cause notice to PTI.
The Commission found that the donations were taken from 34 countries in fundraising events. These included America, Australia, and the UAE, Geo News reported.
The ECP also said that the PTI has taken funds from an American businessman.
In its verdict, the ECP observed the 'unknown accounts' and said that hiding accounts are a "violation of the Constitution".
The decision to announce the verdict comes after a Financial Times expose revealed that the PTI received funding from Wootton Cricket Club belonging to Abraaj founder Arif Naqvi. The funds were generated through a charity match and an Arab personality also pitched in a large sum of money.
The funds were generated through a charity match and an Arab personality also pitched in a large sum of money, reported Geo News.
The FT report provided ammunition to the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), and they demanded an early announcement of the verdict.
Earlier, ECP officials, on the condition of anonymity, told Daily Jang that the election commission would announce the foreign funding verdict during the first week of August.
The PTI hid funds worth millions of rupees from the ECP, the report of an ECP scrutiny committee probing the party's funds revealed on January 4, reported Geo News.
The report stated that the PTI provided "false information" regarding the party's funding to the ECP. It said that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP's) bank statement revealed that the party had received Rs 1.64 billion in funding.
According to the report, the party did not disclose funding worth more than Rs 310 million to the ECP.
The scrutiny committee was formed in 2019 to audit foreign funding received by the PTI.