Imran Khan supporters stage protests across Pakistan against his ouster as PM

A large number of Pakistan TehreekiInsaf PTI supporters held a protest rally in Lahorersquos Liberty Chowk against the ouster of former prime minister and party chairman Imran Khan through a noconfidence motion moved by the OppositionThe charged PTI supporters including women and children showed their solidarity with Khan during the rally that started at 9 pm on Sunday and lasted till 3 am on MondayBig gatherings were also reported from other parts of the Punjab province including Faisalabad Multan Gujranwala Vehari Jehlum and Gujrat districts Islamabad and Karachi also witnessed major gatherings of PTI supportersProtests broke out in different cities after 9 pm on Sunday and continued for several hours on the call of KhanEarlier on Sunday ousted prime minister Khan tweeted that ldquotoday marked the beginning of a freedom strugglerdquo against what he said was a ldquoforeign conspiracy of regime changerdquo in PakistanIn an attempt to galvanise his supporters he said ldquoit is always the people who protected their own sovereignty and democracyrdquo In another tweet Khan posted an aerial view of the Lahore rally and said he never saw such a big crowd ldquoNever have such crowds come out so spontaneously and in such numbers in our history rejecting the imported govt led by crooksrdquo Khan saidPTIrsquos local leadership was leading the protest The charged workers and supporters of the party were chanting slogans against the US which Khan claims to be behind the ouster of his governmentThey were also shouting slogans against Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz PMLN president Shehbaz Sharif who is expected to be elected as the new prime minister on Monday Pakistan Peoples Party PPP cochair Asif Ali Zaradri and Jamiat UlemaeIslam F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman for allegedly plotting against Khanrsquos government at the behest of the USMost placards being carried by the protesters read ldquoImported government not acceptablerdquo This Imported government not acceptable was also a top trend in Pakistan with over 27 million tweets till early hours of MondayFormer federal minister and PTI senior leader Shireen Mazari said in a tweet ldquoSuch amazing scenes from across Pak and from abroad mdash Pakistanis have rejected US instigated regime change Two of my favourite individual placards ImportedGovernmentRejected RevolutionBlackedOutrdquo She also complained of Pakistani media for not giving proper coverage to massive protests across the country especially in Lahore and KarachiThe PTI has thanked the masses to come out on roads in the support of Imran Khan to reject foreign intervention ldquoShukriya thanks Pakistan Wersquore a nation that stands against any foreign intervention wersquore a nation which stands with ImranKhanPTIrdquo the PTI said in statement posted on its Twitter accountDespite the PTI governmentrsquos hectic efforts to avoid voting on the noconfidence motion against Khan the joint Opposition succeeded in its monthlong efforts to oust Khan from the prime ministerrsquos office as 174 members of the 342member National Assembly voted against him after a day of high dramaKhan 69 became the first premier in the countryrsquos history to be sent home after losing the trust of the HousePTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry had also called on the people to stage protests after Isha prayers while speaking to the media in Islamabad earlier in the dayHe said that Khan not leading a massive movement would amount to a ldquobetrayal with the countryrsquos politics and ConstitutionrdquoThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever