Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has issued a new schedule for its long march.

According to the new schedule, the march led by PTI Chairperson Imran Khan will reach Gondlanwala Bagh by tonight and tomorrow (Wednesday), the march will head towards Ghakhar Mandi after which the march will reach Gujrat via Wazirabad by Thursday night.

The march will possibly reach Lala Musa by Friday while PTI plans to reach Jhelum by Sunday.

The date for PTI’s ‘Azadi March’ to reach Islamabad is not final yet as Fawad Chaudhry earlier said that the ‘march’ could reach the federal capital by Friday, November 11, or Saturday, November 12. However, it is quite possible that it could be delayed even more.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has repeatedly warned PTI leadership that the coalition government would not allow the marchers to enter Islamabad’s red zone.

The government is refusing to negotiate with Imran Khan and has also rejected demands of PTI regarding snap polls saying that government will complete its constitutional term.

The interior minister earlier in a press conference clarified that the government was not engaged in backdoor dialogues with PTI.

A day earlier, in an exclusive conversation with Aaj News, Imran Khan ruled out negotiation with the incumbent government without the mediation of the ‘Establishment’.

“Shehbaz Sharif has no power and he has to do Nawaz Sharif’s bidding. Shehbaz Sharif has neither the vote bank nor public support. Even the party (PML-N) does not pay any heed to what Shehbaz says. What is the point of talking to him,” he remarked.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Vice President Maryam Nawaz accused PTI chief Imran Khan of trying to create obstacles in the appointment of the next army chief.

Addressing a press conference in London, Maryam said that the appointment of the next army chief will take place in accordance with the rules. “Imran Khan has nothing to do with the appointment of the next army chief.”

The tenure of the incumbent General Qamar Javed Bajwa will end on November 29, with rivals accusing Imran Khan of politicising the appointment of the next army chief.

Potshots at Imran

The PML-N leader also lashed out at PTI’s protest march to Islamabad, saying there were more security personnel at the march than participants. “Why is so much money being spent on security arrangements? This is yet another Imran-hatched conspiracy that has been unmasked.”

Citing the issue of the cipher, she accused Imran of using lies to compromise national security.

In dozens of public appearances and press conferences, Imran claimed that a foreign-sponsored conspiracy resulted in his ouster in April’s no-confidence vote. He supported this claim by waving a document which he claimed was a cipher sent by a US official to the Pakistani ambassador in the US.

“His lies forced the director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence to discredit Imran’s lies,” said Maryam, referring to the unprecedented press conference by the country’s spymaster, Lieutenant General Nadeem Anjum alongside military spokesperson Lt Gen Babar Iftikhar.

“He begs at your feet at night and then grabs your neck in the morning,” she said, referring to the spymaster’s remark about Imran Khan in the same press conference. “But the truth about the late-night meetings has now been exposed.”

While talking publically about defamation suit against the chief election commissioner, Imran offered indefinite extension behind closed doors, she continued.

“Judges in courts repeatedly asked the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for evidence, but the corruption watchdog’s prosecutor continued to be evasive. “Imran will believe anything he is handed over on a chit. But courts need proof.”

She said that Imran had also claimed that Establishment had told him of Nawaz Sharif’s corruption. “But later he was proven innocent.”

Maryam said Imran should apologize to Nawaz Sharif for the false allegations. “But instead of apologizing, he talks about NRO (legal pardon),” she continued.

“Despite getting Nawaz Sharif imprisoned, he could not win. That’s why he had the RTS (result transmission system) shut down.

It warrants mention here that the RTS system crashed during the last general elections, with both the National Database Registration Authority (Nadra) and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). Imran’s rivals have repeatedly insinuated that the country’s intelligence agencies engineered the failure to get Imran elected. This is also the reason Imran’s rival use the moniker ‘ladla’ or ‘blue-eyed boy’ for him.

‘Massive Scandal’

In her media talk today, Maryam said that another major scandal of the PTI chief was going to hit the news soon.

“He took precious jewelery from the Toshakhana and sold it. He bought jewelery worth Rs20 million and sold it for Rs220 million,” she said. “So far, Imran Khan has stolen Rs500 million from the Tosha Khana.”

The ECP recently disqualified Imran Khan from holding public office till the next election for unlawfully selling state gifts and concealing assets.

Maryam Nawaz said that the Establishment’s decision confine itself to its constitutional role and not to interfere in politics was something that Nawaz Sharif already stood for. “Imran Khan has fallen flat on his face. Nawaz Sharif has defeated Imran Khan on every front including public mandate.”

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inspector General of Police Moazzam Jah Ansari has barred policemen from participating in Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf’s protest march to Islamabad.

A letter has been issued from the IGP office addressed to all police officers including the Peshawar police chief and all regional police officers (RPOs).

According to the letter, the federal government has identified the procedure for government employees to protest. Government servants are also barred from attending protests against government decisions.

No government employee will be part of the PTI protest, the letter stated.

Apart from this, no policeman shall leave his jurisdiction on his territory and the policeman shall perform their duty as per the law.

A day after PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif mocked Imran Khan over the turnout of his protest march to Islamabad, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief accused the elder Sharif of begging for relief whenever cases came up against him.

“I am not Nawaz Sharif that I would start begging when there are cases. Nawaz Sharif will go straight to jail when he returns to Pakistan,” said Imran while addressing participants of his ‘Haqeeqi Azadi March’ (march for real freedom) at the Kangni Wala bypass in Gujranwala.

A day earlier, Nawaz had tweeted that he had instructed his younger brother, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, not to provide Imran with a ‘face-saving opportunity’ via amid rumours of more backchannel talks.

During his speech to supporters, Imran said that there were about 30 first infomation reports (FIR) registered against him, including one on terrorism. He said Nawaz and PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari were the ones behind the ‘conspiracy’ against PTI.

In a tweet as well, Imran said that the protesters were marching for a revolution.

In a warning shot to Zardari, Imran said: “I am coming to Sindh for you. Get ready. I am the politician who did not run away from the country,” he said.

He accused Nawaz Sharif of fleeing the country following a pardon (after the takeover of General Pervez Musharraf in 1999) and then on the pretext of health (2019) following his conviction in the Avenfield reference.

“I will contest the election against Nawaz Sharif and defeat him in his constituency,” said Imran. PML-N is just a family party and shrinking. PTI is now the biggest party in the country, he continued.

He then turned his attention towards the the Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, who he has accused of being in the PML-N’s pocket, calling him a ‘servant’ of the Sharif clan. “I will file a defamaation case against him to pay Rs10 billion in damages.”

He also highlighted the cases of alleged custodial torture of PTI leaders Azam Swati and Shahbaz Gul, while lamenting the death of Arshad Sharif. “He was killed because he was honest and truthful.”

Imran added that the chief justice should order taking down of ‘cameras installed by security agencies outside Azam Swati’s residence’.

He said that Pakistani citizens were deprived of their rights. “The people of East Pakistan were not being given their right. The politicians here (West Pakistan) were the one’s who didn’t give the rights (to the people in the eastern wing). The result was that the country splintered into two,” he said.

Imran said that efforts were afoot to create a conflict between the country’s biggest political party and the country’s army. He accused the PML-N of behind this alleged conflict.

https://www.aajenglish.tv/live/azadi-march-nov1-2022

It’s Tuesday, day five of the PTI’s ‘Azadi March’ that kicked off on October 28 with an aim to force the government to announce snap elections. Imran Khan, the leading man of the march, would resume the cavalcade from Chan Da Qila in Gujranwala today (Tuesday).

The PTI is marching on the GT road and ended the fourth day of the procession in Gujranwala. Imran, who has been seeing a revolution in the country since his ouster in April, would pass through Bhatta Plaza after crossing the planned points. Workers and supporters would be present near the Sheikhupura Mor to welcome the leaders. It is expected that Imran would make a speech at this point.

Imran had returned to Zaman Park in Lahore, as per updates till Monday night.

The next stations are Larai Ada, Shaheen Abad, Aliana Plaza, and then Pindi bypass.

“The Haqeeqi Azadi March would start at 12pm today [Tuesday],” Musarrat Cheema, the spokesperson of the Punjab government, said in a statement. He added that Imran would also address workers at the Super Asia Chowk after a speech at Chan Da Qila.

‘Gujranwala does not belong to PML-N now’

The spokesperson said that the coalition government has panicked after seeing the “success” of the long march. “If there are no people [in the march] then the government approached the Supreme Court. The government has brought the security of whole Pakistan in Islamabad after fearing of the long march,” he said.

On the government’s countermeasures, he claimed that such measures were not even taken when martial law was declared in the country.

He alleged that Gujranwala does not belong to the PML-N “now” and the people have announced their verdict in favour of the PTI.

“Supremacy of law is our only purpose. We don’t want to fight with the institutions,” Cheema said.

The United States administration has once again rejected former prime minister Imran Khan’s allegations of regime change in Pakistan by the world’s superpower.

“What we can do is counter disinformation, misinformation with information,” US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said while addressing a press briefing on Monday. “And we’ve said many times now, including in this briefing room, that there is no truth to these allegations.”

Imran was ousted from the office of prime minister in April through a vote of no-confidence, which the former premier claims was sponsored by a foreign conspiracy. He has described it as a “regime change” plot after he visited Russia.

The PTI chief “revealed” it in a party rally in Islamabad on March 27, 2022. He held a piece of paper in the gathering that he claimed was “evidence of foreign conspiracy” being hatched to topple his government.

Imran, who started his anti-government ‘Azadi March’ on October 28 in demand for snap elections, has been using such claims in his speeches. He reiterated that the country would not accept any “imported government” that was apparently planned and formed in the West or US. The “threat letter”

Price, who has many times rebuffed such allegations, said: “We won’t let propaganda, we won’t let misinformation or disinformation get in the way of an important bilateral relationship, including our valued bilateral partnership with Pakistan.”

The State Department spokesperson reiterated that his administration valued the longstanding cooperation between the US and Pakistan. “We’ve always viewed a prosperous and democratic Pakistan as critical to our interests. That remains unchanged.”

“I understand in the case of Pakistan, elections have not yet been scheduled, but we support the peaceful upholding of constitutional and democratic principles not just in Pakistan, around the world. These are issues that we discuss with all of our partners around the world,” he said in response to a query on credibility of election process in Pakistan.