MANSEHRA: The participants of a Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s youth convention here on Friday demanded the release of former prime minister Imran Khan and other party leaders and workers arrested on what they termed trumped-up charges.

“Our offices are just because of Imran Khan’s sacrifices for this country, and if he is not satisfied with the leadership’s performance for his release, he should replace us and we will accept his decision wholeheartedly,” Junaid Akbar Khan, president of PTI Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, told the convention held at Khatm-i-Nabuwwat Chowk here.

The event was also attended by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati, PTI’s provincial general secretary Ali Asghar Khan, central PTI youth leader Ahmad Khan Niazi, provincial deputy president Kamal Saleem Swati, Hazara division president Ali Khan Jadoon, and other senior party members.

Junaid Akbar said if the central leadership gave a call for nationwide protests they would begin the movement from the Margalla Hills and shut down the country from Karachi to Lahore.

“We must remain patient and continue our peaceful struggle for the release of the party’s founding chairman. I am confident that he will soon be out of jail and will once again become the prime minister of this country,” he insisted.

Mr Akbar said that PTI workers were ready to make sacrifices for the supremacy of the Constitution and for the sake of future generations.

“We have tolerated this government because Imran taught us the values of patience and endurance despite the persecution we are still facing,” he said.

He accused the federal government of crossing all limits in persecuting PTI leaders and workers, but praised the party’s continued unity and resolve.

Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2025