Ishaq Khan
PESHAWAR: Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has said that he decided to end the long march to avoid the bloodshed and rejected the reports about PTI’s deal to abruptly call off his Azadi March on May 26.
This he said during a press conference along with the CM Mahmood Khan and Senior Minister Atif Khan in Peshawar on Friday.
He criticized the coalition government and blamed them for turning the peaceful protest into a violent one.
Former premier Imran Khan said that the federal government spread propaganda against his party that they were going to spread anarchy and started torture on the peaceful protestors in different parts of the country especially in Lahore.
“The rulers have used the Punjab police to perpetrate violence on the PTI workers. Which police use force against their own people, against their women and children?” he asked.
Imran Khan lamented that the government had appointed Gullu Butts in police and adding that it’s not the mistake of police, police force is being used by the rulers.
PTI Chief said that his party gave a 126-day long sit-in in 2014 and it’s not hard for them to stage another sit-in but when we reached the venue of the sit-in in Islamabad, we sensed that situation was not right. It smacked of bloodshed. People were ready to fight. Our people suffered torture at the hands of police and reached the D-Chowk. They were incensed and highly charged. I assure you that people could have clashed with police and indulged in bloodshed that day,” Imran explained.
Imran Khan made it clear that if anyone was under the impression that his party would sit silently and accept the ‘imported government’, then he was living in fool’s paradise.
“We are giving six days to the government for the announcement of election date. If the government does not dissolve assemblies within a week, we will launch our march again. And this time, we will be fully prepared,” the PTI chief warned.
He lamented that despite clear directions by the Supreme Court, the rulers created hurdles in the ways of PTI marchers. He saluted his supporters who participated in the march for showing courage.
