ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairperson Imran Khan has announced that his party will kick start ‘Haqeeqi Azadi March’ towards Islamabad on Friday (October 28).
“We will start the long march from Liberty Chowk at 11:00am on Friday,” the PTI chief said addressing a press conference in Lahore on Tuesday.
Imran Khan assured that his party’s long march would be peacefull and claimed that the long march would be the biggest-ever in the histroy of Pakistan. “The march will pass through the GT Road and the people will join it.”
“We would be peaceful. We are not coming to fight anyone, we will not break any law and we will not enter the red zone,” Imran Khan said.
The former prime minister said his government did not create any hurdles when twice Maulana Fazalur Rehman, Bilawal Bhutto and Maryam Nawaz led long march to Islamabad.
The PTI chief said that the opponents levelled the allegations against him for being “irresponsible” for holding a march when the country was undergoing a crisis, adding that when he had assumed office as the prime minister of the country, Pakistan was suffering from the “worst economic” situation.
The former prime minister claimed that their doors were open for talks, but now he beleived that the coalition government wouldn’t announce elections.
The former premier has been threatening a long march onto Islamabad for the past several weeks. He has been going city to city to mobilize public for the ‘Haqeeqi Azaadi’ (True Freedom) Movement.
Heavy contingents of police, FC arrive in Islamabad to thwart PTI’s long march
In a bid to thwart the PTI’s proposed long march on Islamabad, heavy contingents of the Sindh police and Frontier Corps (FC) have arrived in the federal capital.
As per the reports, almost 6,000 personnel of the Sindh police and 90 platoons of FC have touched down in the federal capital ahead of the PTI looming long march.
The FC personnel are staying in Faisal Mosque and Haji camp.
Meanwhile, hundreds of containers have been placed throughout the capital to prevent the PTI’s long march.
Earlier on October 22, the PTI chairperson addressing a press conference alongside Azam Khan Swati in Islamabad said that he would announce the date for his “Haqeeqi Azadi March” on Thursday or Friday, warning the government against taking steps to stop the march.
Regarding the possibility of violence at the march, Imran ruled out the possibility. “It would be peaceful, there will no violence,” he said, adding that the march would be attended by families, including women and children.
Everyone would have a good time at the protest, he continued.
The government approached the Supreme Court earlier to stop the PTI’s long march stating that Imran Khan was making announcements regarding the long march to the capital in violation of a court order and requested the Supreme Court to initiate contempt of court proceedings against the PTI chief for not following the court May 25 orders.
The apex court, however, rejected the request to issue an interim order for stopping the PTI’s planned long march. The court told the government to take necessary measures to manage the law and order situation but in accordance with the law.
