Banned outfits not supporting PTI: KP CM

NOWSHERA: Chief Minister Pervez Khattak said on Friday the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was neither implementing the agenda of any other nor did it have the support of banned outfits.

He was talking to the media at Azakhel town after visiting the venue where the PTI coalition partner in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Jamaat-e-Islami, is going to arrange a two-day congregation. The gathering will start today.

Defending the funding provided by the PTI-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to the seminaries, the chief minister said, “We have put the madaris on the right track.” “They are equipping students with modern knowledge disciplines side by side with religious education. This is a big service,” he elaborated.

The chief minister said there were no terrorists in Darul Uloom Haqqania or any other religious seminaries. “There are no Taliban either,” he said and criticised what he called propaganda against seminaries.

About the plan by the PTI to lock down Islamabad, the chief minister said it would be the last round of protest by Imran Khan. He said the protest would end if Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif offered himself for accountability.

The chief minister said the PTI November 2 protest would be crowned with success if the masses extended them support. Pervez Khattak said that the protest in Islamabad would be peaceful. He said any disturbance there would be considered a plot on the part of the federal government.

The chief minister said the PTI was vying for the justice-based system in the province in collaboration with partner Jamaat-e-Islami. “We are making efforts to stamp out corruption culture in the province,” he added.

Earlier, the chief minister received a warm welcome by the JI leaders when he reached the venue for the congregation. The party provincial chief Mushtaq Ahmad Khan, general secretary Abdul Wasey, Senior Minister Inayatullah Khan, Finance  Minister Muzaffar Said and the party senior leader Asif Luqman Qazi were also present.

Mushtaq Ahmad briefed the chief minister about the arrangements made for the JI congregation. The chief minister praised the organisers for the congregation and said it too was meant for effecting a change in the system.