• KP CM Gandapur says if Imran not released within two weeks, they will ‘set him free’ themselves
• Warns opponents of ‘cases in KP’; says party will respond in kind if attacked
• Tarar terms Sangjani rally ‘a failed show’

ISLAMABAD: At a long-awaited public rally on Sunday, the leadership of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) demanded the immediate release of jailed party founder, vowing it would not stand for a military trial of Imran Khan.

“If Imran Khan is not released in two weeks, we will go to get him released,” Khyber Pakh­tun­khwa (KP) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur told participants of the PTI public meeting in Sangjani, on the outskirts of the capital.

If Mr Khan is not released, he warned the PTI’s ‘verbal struggle’ could turn into a ‘bloody struggle’.

He also threatened their opponents, saying if Mr Khan was not released, he would institute cases against them in his province. “Now the KP government is completely in our control and I will make cases against you,” he said.

“Imran’s lawyers have said that all cases against him have been decided in his favour and now he must be released immediately, otherwise we will go to the jail to get him released,” he said.

Addressing the military establishment, the KP CM said that even they could not prevent him from securing Imran Khan’s freedom.

Beset by postponements and the absence of official permission from the Islamabad administration, the show of strength had been in the making for several weeks now.

But considering the hurdles placed by the administration, and the long-winded routes many had to take to make it to the venue, the turnout at the public meeting was quite impressive by the time darkness fell.

Responding to a statement by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif that Imran Khan could face a military trial because of his involvement in the May 9 mayhem, Mr Gandapur said: “Even your father, or those you consider your father, cannot stop us from getting Imran Khan released.”

He claimed the PTI had not received former ISI chief retired Lt-Gen Faiz Hameed “in their dowry” and said those who made him head of the spy agency were responsible for his deeds.

“Keep your house in order, otherwise we will keep the military in order. It is our institutions where our brothers are serving on the borders,” he added.

The KP CM said PTI founder was targeted under the garb of May 9 cases, adding that he would reveal at the next public meeting at Lahore. “I will tell all that May 9 was an excuse to target Imran Khan,” he added.

He said the PTI had decided not to tolerate any injustice and excesses, and will respond accordingly.

“If anyone hits us, we will hit them,” he added.

Mr Gandapur also told the participants of the public meeting that they would soon receive a call to make a ‘bloody sacrifice’ to secure what he called ‘real freedom’.

No ‘minus Imran’ formula

Speaking on the occasion, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar said his party would not tolerate any new cases instituted against Mr Khan, and was hopeful that the party founder would soon be released from jail.

He said that Imran Khan was a reality and everyone would have to accept that reality. “This is not the 1990s that you can ‘minus’ someone,” he said, adding that Imran Khan was, is and would remain their leader.

He lamented that even though permission was granted to hold a public meeting, the local administration had fully barricaded the federal capital so that PTI workers could not reach the venue. “All the routes leading to the public meeting were blocked with containers,” he added.

Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party Chief Mahmood Achakzai and other PTI leaders, such as Omar Ayub, Hammad Azhar also spoke on the occasion.

‘Failed show’

For its part, the government termed PTI’s public meeting “a failed show”, saying that the opposition party had not managed to mobilise people or bring them out of their homes.

“Millions of people who were supposed to bring a revolution today, nobody knows where they have gone. Have they gone to some other country or another place,” Information Minister Atta Tarar said on Sunday.

Speaking to the media, he claimed that the PTI had to resort to fake videos to give the impression of huge rally and uploaded false and fake posts on social media to cover up thin attendance.

He made it clear that the PTI leadership could not escape accountability by such tactics, adding that the PTI founder will have to face trial for corrupt practices.

He remarked that the PTI’s leadership both in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had completely failed to bring convoys to the public rally.

Separately, he blamed the PTI for the clashes with police at Chungi No 26, saying that PTI did not believe in peaceful protest.

He remarked that the PTI’s leadership both in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had completely failed to bring convoys to the public rally.

“PTI has a track record that it always adopted a path of violence. PTI workers clashed with police after the failure of its public meeting,” the minister said.

Mr Tarar said CM Gandapur, who was leading a rally from Peshawar, intentionally reac­hed the venue of the public meeting late after he got to know about the “failure” of the event.

Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2024