LAHORE: Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari has alleged the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) of Imran Khan is a political wing of banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

“By chanting the slogans of ‘Al-jihad Al-jihad,’ the PTI has proven that it is the political wing of the TTP. The TTP’s political wing has formed its own ‘jihadi squad’ and armed it with weapons, shells, slingshots, glass, and rubber bullets,” Ms Bokhari said in a statement here on Thursday.

She said the mastermind of the May 9 was continuously using Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur as a pawn against the federation.

“The 90pc of the PTI members are opposed to the protest scheduled for Nov 24. Bushra Bibi’s authoritarian and demeaning attitude has caused a rift among the PTI lawmakers,” she said and added that Aleema Khan and Sher Afzal Marwat had openly opposed Bushra Bibi’s control over the party.

The minister said the members of the assembly from Punjab were quite sensible and had refused to acknowledge Bushra’s leadership.

“The prisoner from Adiala Jail is continuously inciting the youth of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa against the federation. The children who should be holding laptops, free books, free medicines, bikes and modern skills are instead being armed by the ‘fitna group’ with slingshots, petrol bombs and sticks to fight against the state.”

Azma Bokhari emphasized that the state should not be underestimated as it knew how to deal with mobs and rioters very effectively. She declared that the government would deal with the PTI’s protest with iron hands.

Published in Dawn, November 22th, 2024