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Friday March 29, 2024

We were asked to extend march date: Imran Khan

Imran said he or his nation did not fear repressive tactics used by the coalition government to stop them from marching to the Capital

By News Desk
May 25, 2022
We were asked to extend march date: Imran Khan

PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chief Imran Khan Tuesday said he and his party’s supporters will reach Islamabad on May 25 (today) and will not leave the Capital until and unless “we get an election date”.

He was speaking to a private TV channel ahead of his long march. The PTI Chief said he or his nation did not fear repressive tactics used by the coalition government to stop them from marching to the Capital. “This (Azadi March) is not a political movement or gathering. Pakistan is facing a revolution and I have firm belief that they (the government) will not be able to stop millions of people who are marching towards Islamabad,” said PTI chief.

The PTI Chief disclosed he was asked to change the date of long march. “They gave me May 28 and then May 29 a date for the march, or extend it further”, he said, adding “we were told things were being worked out and decision will be taken tomorrow”. He said that were all lies. “Now, I do not put trust in anything”, he said, without specifying who asked him to extend the march date.

The PTI Chief said the government had no moral courage and was using only physical force. A revolution was on its way in Pakistan and they were unable to stop it, he said. Imran Khan said there was a mafia in the country with their roots in the judiciary. They were so powerful that they easily escape everything, he remarked.

Imran Khan said he received death threats before Multan rally and still had such threats, but he was not afraid to go among his people, and even the people, the nation were not afraid of anything in this fight to get rid of “imported government led by crooks”.

When his attention was drawn by the questioner towards situation in Sri Lanka, PTI Chief said he feared situation in Pakistan could become worse than that. Explaining his fear, Imran Khan said the nation had awoken and the youth were now equipped with more knowledge than in the past.

When asked about Lahore incident, PTI Chief said he had sympathies with the family members of the policeman martyred while performing his duty. Imran Khan, however, demanded legal action against those who ordered the raid during night time. He questioned under what law they were doing all that. They were responsible for the murder of the policeman, Imran said.

Imran Khan strongly criticised the incumbent government saying this government was using tactics used by dictators against his party, but he was not surprised as PMLN had a history of such repression against its opponents. “This cabinet (of coalition government) has 60 percent people on bail in criminal cases and their sole purpose of coming to power is to shut cases against them before the polls,” said Imran Khan.

The PTI chief maintained that PM Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz Sharif were about to be indicted in a case when they took over as PM and CM. “It was natural for them to become a part of conspiracy against my government for they knew if they don’t come to power, they are going to jail,” said the former PM.

He said he always asked his workers and supporters to never vote for people whose assets were abroad for they were “easy to be enslaved by the foreign powers”. The PTI chief repeated his demand that the US Assistant Secretary of State for Central and South Asia Donald Lu should be sacked by US for demanding removal of an elected PM of a country. “This guy (Donald Lu) has no manners and should be sacked,” said former PM.

The PTI chief accuses Lu of threatening Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US, Asad Majeed, that a failure to remove PM Imran Khan through a no-confidence vote would have dire “consequences” for Pakistan, and if he was removed, Pakistan would be forgiven.