Pakistan: PTI supporters raise Rahul Gandhi's 'Chowkidar chor hai' slogan against Pak Army

"Chowkidar chor hai”, a slogan first raised in India by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the last general election, has now reached Pakistan.

The same slogan was also heard during a rally addressed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Sheikh Rashid Ahmed in Punjab. Notably, the mega rally in which Ahmed was seen addressing from the terrace of a building was attended by thousands of PTI supporters gathered at Lal Haveli in Pakistan’s Punjab province against embattled Prime Minister Imran Khan's ouster.

During the rally, the crowds referred to the Pakistan Army as “Chowkidar” and called them “thieves” for “stealing” Imran Khan’s mandate. In the short clip, which was posted by Ahmed on his Twitter handle, the ex-minister was seen trying to stop the supporters from raising the slogans against the army. 

"Don’t raise slogans… we will fight with peace," Rashid appealed to his supporters. Amid high-voltage drama due to the worst political turbulence in Pakistan, Opposition parties ousted the country’s embattled Prime Minister, Imran Khan, in a no-confidence vote early on Sunday.

The awful situation for Khan came despite his repetitive appeal in the Parliament. He even held several mega rallies to gain the support of the public, but all of his efforts went in vain as he lost the no-confidence motion.

Meanwhile, referring to the decision taken by the National Assembly on Saturday late at night, the former minister appealed to his supporters, "If you want to save your country then don’t make a decision in the dark of night but in daylight."

"On 29/4 there will be Eid. Be ready we will take the jail bharo movement from Lal Haveli daily. I myself will take it from Karachi,” he said, adding that he “will tell all the Sindhis that they (then opposition) are thieves, docents and robbers."

FIA directs staff to stop govt officials from leaving the country without NOC

Amid the Pakistan political crisis, the difficulties of Imran Khan and his officials seem to be mounting as the staff of probe agency, FIA, directed their staff to stop any government official from travelling abroad without a No-Objection Certificate (NOC).

According to the senior Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) official, the department has put its staff on high alert in order to staff the government officials to flee from the country amid possibilities of enquiries against them. As per the reports of Dawn, the move came after the Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan, Asad Qaiser, tendered his resignation late on Saturday night. Subsequently, the FIA's immigration staff at all international airports of the country was placed on high alert.

Image: @ShkhRasheed/Twitter