Lashing out at the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government over what he called ‘dynastic politics of Sharifs,’ Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan on Monday said that he will lead the march into ‘Red Zone’ of the federal capital on Tuesday, when his deadline expires.
“Because I am worried that the police is ours and you are also mine, and I do not want any clash with police. That’s why I have decided I will lead the march to the Red Zone,” he said to the protesters. “Police will have to decide whether they will fire at Imran Khan or not. I know the Pakistani police will not shoot at Imran Khan,” he said. To the “Gullu Butts,” he said if they raise arms against workers, they will have no place to hide. “The world will witness the power of the Pakistani nation tomorrow.” He asked the party workers to promise that they will follow behind him, and that “if something happens,” he will take the first bullet. “You have to promise not to embarrass your leader. You have to stay peaceful. Do not break as much as a potted plant. It will be a peaceful march.”
He pleaded to the Islamabad police not to engage in violence tomorrow. Imran Khan felicitated his party administration for better arrangements of the sit-in today compared to past few days. He said a civil disobedience movement was the best way to get freedom from oppressors. He claimed that the crowd at the sit-in was getting larger with every passing day. The PTI chief lamented that the poor has to pay taxes on everything. Addressing the youth, he explained difference between democracy and monarchy. “In democracy, rulers are answerable to the masses and in monarchy they are not,” he said. The statement comes soon after the PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi announced that PTI lawmakers will resign from all assemblies, save Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to strengthen the civil disobedience movement Imran Khan announced on Sunday.
On Sunday, he appealed to the people to stop paying utility bills and taxes to the current government, accusing Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of plundering the national wealth to enrich his business empire. Khan and populist cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri, who led his own “long march” from Lahore, claim the May 2013 general election which Sharif won in a landslide was rigged. They had promised to mobilise hundreds of thousands of supporters to capitalise on popular dissatisfaction with the corruption, power cuts and insecurity that blight daily life in Pakistan and oust the government. But Khan was left looking increasingly isolated on Monday as mass support failed to materialise and other opposition parties refused to rally to his call. -dawn
Imran vows to lead march into Islamabad’s Red… by times-of-pakistan
