The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Urdu: پاکستان تحريک انصاف) (Pakistan Movement for Justice) is a political party in Pakistan. In the Pakistani general election, 2002, the party won 0.8% of the popular vote and 1 out of 272 elected members[1]. PTI is headed by former Pakistani cricket captain Imran Khan. "Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem" is the slogan of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. Imran Khan, the chairman of the party is also the Chancellor of the University of Bradford, England. He has a BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics and is a Master of Arts of the University of Oxford.[2] He has put forward a solution for Pakistan's issues related to its system. His solution has three points:
1. Independent Election Commission
2. Independent Judiciary
3. Independent Accountability Bureau
4. Education Emergency
Leadership
Chairman: Imran Khan
Senior Vice President: Hamid Khan
Secretary General: Dr. Arif Alvi
Deputy Information Secretary: Iftikhar Ahmad Chaudhry
Central Information Secretary: Omar Sarfaraz Cheema
Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs: Shireen M. Mazari
Agenda
Ideology
mran Khan has called for social and economic development of Pakistani people through justice at all levels of the society through moderation while keeping in mind Islamic principles. PTI aims at improving the situation of the Pakistani people through education and enlightenment.
PTI opposes the war being waged within Pakistan by the Pakistani Army, but also opposes the training of bombers to engage in revenge attacks. The party's popularity has seen a meteoric rise among the masses, especially among young people aged 18 to 30 who are inspired by Imran's charismatic leadership. The party believes that Pakistan should be self-reliant & should establish relations with the West as equals and not subordinates.
2008 General Elections
It was the first time in the history of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, since it was established, that it did not contested in the elections, which were held on 18 February 2008. The reason given was that Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was put in house aresst by General (ret) Pervez Musharraf and not allowed to work[5]. Hence all the nominess of PTI burnt there nomination papers with chairman teraing off his papers infront of the whole media. Following is what was said by the chairman of the party Imran Khan in a press conference:
"I am tearing my nomination papers publicly because I feel that to even file my papers will be a betrayal of our judiciary. For the first time in 60 years history our supreme court has stood for an independent judiciary and rule of law and shunned the doctrine of necessity. Any politician, who participates in these fraudulent elections held under an unconstitutional and illegal PCO, will be strengthening a dictator and upholding the doctrine of necessity that has been the greatest impediment in our country achieving its huge potential. We will not only betray the honorable judges who have made personal sacrifices to uphold the constitution, but also our future generations.
This would have been the first election that PTI would have fought while being properly prepared. But we have decided to boycott it and urge other parties not to participate and give legitimacy to an unconstitutional act. As per the decision of the APDM we hope that all the parties will boycott the elections if the Pre-Nov 3 conditions are not restored. I also urge all political parties to join hands in the foiling Gen. Musharraf's last attempt to cling power.''
Insaf Student Federation
Insaf Student Federation is the official student wing of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the idea on which it is based is to promote the objectives of creation of Pakistan without any prejudice.It was establish in January 2007, lead by the chief organizer Mr. Ejaz Chaudhry. The federation believes in organizing the students who are willing to build a strong nation. It mainly promotes healthy activities like book fairs, seminars, declamation, sports competition, etc.
Charity Work
Sasta Tandoor
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf started Sasta Tandoor project on 26 August. It was started for poor people who could not afford to buy roti. "According to Mian Mehmood-ur-Rashid, the president of PTI Lahore, the idea was plucked out of the books of the AKP (former Welfare) party in Turkey which had begun to sell bread at subsidized rates in the localities of Ankara and Istanbul after the country was hit with hyper inflation in the mid-1980’s. Places selling cheap bread became so popular in Turkey, that private bakeries ended up going out of business. It was schemes like these which helped propel the AKP to become the largest and most popular party in Turkish politics."[7] The first Sasta Tandoor was started in Lahore. After that it was started in Peshawar, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Sialkot and Karachi. Following are the number of Sasta Tandoor's working till date:
* Rawalpindi: 2 * Islamabad: 2 * Peshawar: 2 * Karachi: 2 * Sialkot: 1 * Lahore: 4
The program is being run on donations by overseas PTI members, with a direct link of PayPal available on the official website of the party to donate specifically for Sasta Tandoor.
Membership Drive
Imran Khan giving autographs on membership forms for new members in Lahore
The membership campaign was started by Imran Khan for PTI to make it more famous and make the people of Pakistan know its agenda more deeply. The 'membership drive' is still going on and has been successful till date. Also it was given an indication that the campaign will be spread country-wide and will surely cover the populated areas of the country.
The membership campaign arranged by the party is a very unique one, with number 'floats' roaming the specified cities with huge banners on them of the party and Imran Khan. Also a documentary named 'Nijat-e-Dahinda (The Saviour)' is shown on screen, in which the vision of the chairman and the manifesto of the party is explained. In the end of the documentary, Imran Khan appears and gives a message to the people to join the party and strengthen its hands.
Lahore
PTI started its membership drive with the slogan of 'change' from Lahore on 16 Nov 2008 and ended it on 1 Dec 2008 with the chairman of the party Imran Khan giving a speech at Nasir Bagh, where more than 4000 people gathered.[8]
People gathering at the membership camp to join the party
The membership was very successful and near 1,50000 (1Lac 50 Thousand) people with more than 500 lawyers joined the party.[9] This was a great shock to all the mainstream parties of Pakistan (PML(N), PML(Q), PPP) as Tehreek-e-Insaf was always considered as very little party with no supporters at all. This was also an indication that people in Lahore started to think PTI as a substitute for the always leading political party, PML(N). The membership made PML(Q) start its own membership campaign on the pattern of PTI, but it was not able to get any attention. Also other parties like Pakistan Muslim League(N) and Pakistan Peoples Party have jumped into ground and started to popularize their parties in Lahore.
Rawalpindi/Islamabad
The membership dive was further extended and taken to Rawalpindi/Islamabad, which started on 15 Dec 2008 and ended on 25 Dec 2008. A warm welcome was given by the people of these joint cities to the membership campaign of Tehreek-e-Insaf.[11] Even though the weather was not a favorable one to the membership drive from the day it started, still people of these cities came out and joined PTI. Most of the people joining were lawyers, students, and people from lower-middle class. Also a great number of women were seen at the camps and floats to join the party same as Lahore.
Peshawar People in Peshawar gather to welcome Imran Khan on 23 Dec 2008
The next city chosen was Peshawar. This city is the capital of NWFP. It is to be noted that survey conducted by International Republican Institute(IRI), in 2007, showed PTI as the second most popular party in this province.[12] The membership campaign was to be started on the same day as on Rawalpindi, but due to some problems it was delayed till 20 December 2008.[13] This didn't give any setback to the campaign and the people of the city responded the same as the other cities and around 2,000 members were made from a single camp on the first day, which was a great success.[14] Same as the other citites, mostly educated persons were seen to be joining PTI.[15] Here the number of women appearing on the camps was less than the other cities camps due to some cultural prohibitions but many old people, ranging from 75-85 years, were seen to be joining PTI. After 8 days of campaiging, around 60,000 people joined PTI.[16] Also the chairman of the party, Imran Khan went to Peshawar on 23 December 2008, during the membership campaign. It proved to be an historic event as thousands of people gathered there to welcome him.
Other Cities This membership campaign was been further extended to Faisalabad, and around 80,000 members were made from this city.[18] The next cities where the membership is to be started, as the sources tell, are Multan and Gujranwala.
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