Islamabad, 9/3: Pakistani police used water cannons and fired tear gas to disperse supporters of the country’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan on March 8, 2023, in the eastern city of Lahore. One activist of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party was killed. Two dozen Khan supporters were arrested for defying a government ban on holding rallies, police said.
The developments followed Mr. Khan’s launching of provincial election campaigns on March 7 for eastern Punjab and northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province provinces, where the ex-premier’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party has held a majority in past rounds of voting.
Mr. Khan, now opposition leader, was ousted in a no-confidence vote in Parliament on April, 2022. He has claimed his removal was illegal and has also campaigned for early parliamentary elections. The government of his successor, Mr. Shahbaz Sharif, has dismissed Mr. Khan’s demands, saying the nationwide vote will take place as scheduled later in the year 202