Imran Khan warns Pak govt, says long march won't be delayed past October
Oct 17, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], October 18 : Former Pakistan Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan on Monday warned Shehbaz Sharif-led government that the anti-government "Azadi March" would not be delayed past October as they have completed their preparations.
In a press conference, the PTI chairman said: "My march will be held in October if the government does not announce the date for the next general election," reported Geo News.
The PTI chief warned the government that multitudes of people would take to the streets responding to his call to the nation for the anti-government march.
Khan said he was still cutting the government some slack so that they could decide on it. "I am actually giving them some more time before embarking on our long march protest."
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Monday warned PTI chief Imran Khan that the government will respond with "full force" if he announces a long march and enters the federal capital, reported Geo News.
Speaking during a press conference in Islamabad, the interior minister said that Khan has started the culture of bringing huge crowds out on the streets, but the government knows how to end it. "We also know how to take a similar path," he said.
Sanaullah said that Khan's behaviour is not in the favour of the nation as he wants to "spread anarchy in Pakistan".
However, Khan warned the top minister and said, "Rana Sanaullah won't even know what hit him, such is my preparation,"
Sanaullah recently claimed that the government's preparation was 10 times more as compared to May 25, reported Geo News.
Khan further said dialogue was out of the question with the ruling elite. "There's no negotiation with criminals. You can hold reconciliation talks with Baloch or Sindhi nationalists, but not with the felons like them," he added.
Khan's press conference came after his party won Sunday's by-election by a major margin. The PTI chief won six of the eight National Assembly seats up for grabs and his party added two more to their seat count in the Punjab Assembly.
The PTI chief also condemned the law enforcement agencies for booking the ageing PTI leader Azam Swati in a "baseless case" and then allegedly subjecting him to grievous bodily harm in police custody. "They beat up the 75-year-old in front of his grandchildren."
Chiding the government for allegedly torturing PTI leader and former federal minister, he said that what the authorities did to him was "utterly shameless," reported Geo News.
Saying that he was accused of isolating the country, Khan dared his accusers to read his reply to the tweet of former US president Donald Trump immediately after his "illegal" ouster.
"Americans respect nationalists," Khan said.
He alleged that the government spent hundreds of millions of rupees on their US visits. "Bilawal was touring the whole world, while Sindh was sinking," reported Geo News.
He said it was old propaganda against Pakistan that was still being actively pursued and they were pushing the country to the brink of default. "I had said they left the country in the lurch of default twice before."
