Will PTI have the same fate as Awami League of East Pakistan? Imran Khan thinks so

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan expressed his fears of watching his political party head down the same road as the Awami League of erstwhile East Pakistan which was outlawed decades ago on the grounds of being treasonous. In a lengthy Twitter rant during the wee hours of Monday, Khan narrated the ordeal that he has recently gone through.

From being dragged out of court to getting apprehended, events involving the embattled former premier have triggered massive protests and disarray in Pakistan. On Monday, he claimed that the incumbent Shehbaz Sharif-led government is plotting an intricate "London plan", which involves bolstering the crackdown on PTI.

"Then will follow complete crack down on whatever is left of PTI leadership and workers. And finally they will ban the largest and only federal party of Pakistan," he tweeted, adding that what he perceives as an impending situation would resemble what happened with the Awami League. 

Then will follow complete crack down on whatever is left of PTI leadership and workers.
And finally they will ban the largest and only federal party of Pakistan. (Just as they banned the Awami league in East Pakistan)

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI)

But what exactly happened to the Awami League? 

"They will ban the largest and only federal party of Pakistan. Just as they banned the Awami league in East Pakistan," he wrote. Khan drew a parallel to the Awami League, which was banned in erstwhile East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), shortly after the Pakistani Army's Operation Searchlight. During an address on May 26, 1971, then-President Yahya Khan banned the party, justifying the move by claiming it was treasonous. Following the ban, the then-government seized the bank accounts of the party. 

During the nationwide address, Yahya Khan also imposed media censorship. “As for the Awami League, it is completely banned as a political party," the former president said, adding that the party's founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s action of non-cooperation movement “is an act of treason," Dawn reported.