• Ministers assail PTI for trying to derail another dignitary’s visit as Belarusian president due today
• Tarar claims party leaders don’t want Imran released; Ahsan Iqbal calls on jailed leader to fight his case in courts rather than on the streets

ISLAMABAD: As PTI supporters from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and other parts of the country marched towards the capital, the government struck an aggressive note, saying that anyone trying to enter the city despite the unprecedented security arrangements and blockades in place would face the music.

Government functionaries have termed the PTI power show a ‘well-thought out conspiracy’, as it coincides with yet another foreign dignitary’s visit; the arrival of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. The Belarusian president is due in Islamabad today.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, who received an advance delegation from Belarus on Sunday, vowed that all protesters trying to enter the federal capital will be taken into custody.

Authorities have sealed off Islamabad’s Red Zone, which houses key government buildings, and secured the Diplomatic Enclave, he said.

Addressing a press conference on Sunday, Mr Naqvi said that the security measures were put in place to protect residents of the capital and their property, blaming the PTI for inconveniencing thousands of people.

Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar also questioned the PTI’s repeated calls for strikes, terming them a “well-thought out conspiracy” against the country.

In a statement on Sunday, he regretted the party always seemed to call for a protest at a time when global figures were visiting Pakistan, whether it be the Chinese premier’s visit, the SCO summit or other occasion.

PTI doesn’t want Imran’s release: Tarar

In a separate presser, Federal Minister for Information Attaullah Tarar claimed that most leaders and workers of the PTI were courting arrests to avoid participation in an “illegal and unnecessary” protest.

“One thing is pretty clear that the PTI’s leadership does not want their leader released from jail,” he said, adding that they were receiving information from Punjab and Islamabad that most of the party’s top- and lower-tier leaders were voluntarily surrendering to police.

He maintained that the PTI only wished to secure an NRO-like deal for the release of their leader, but said the government cannot do anything in this regard.

This is the domain of the courts, where the PTI is supposed to argue and fight for the release of their leader, who has been facing different charges, he added.

“Life in Islamabad is normal as people are taking strolls in parks and children are playing at different places, but some major highways have been closed to maintain law and order in the city,” he said, holding the PTI responsible for road closures, and inflicting losses on traders.

Fight cases in court, not on streets: Iqbal

Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal also accused the PTI of wanting to sabotage national development.

Speaking at a press conference here on Sunday, he counselled Imran Khan to prove his innocence in court, where he is being tried, instead of bringing his party on the roads again and again to try and pressure the government for his release.

“His release hinges on clearance from the courts. He will have to clear himself from the cases registered against him. Without this, the government cannot release him,” he said, while referring to PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan’s statement that the PTI was forced to protest to seek the release of its founder.

Under the PTI regime, he recalled, PML-N leaders managed to get justice from courts and did not appeal to the government for their release.

If Imran Khan believed that he was innocent and the cases against him were false, then the way forward is not to sabotage the country and launch an international campaign to defame the homeland, but to prove his innocence in the courts, he said.

Mr Iqbal said there was irrefutable evidence against the PTI founder in the Toshakhana and Al-Qadir Trust cases, and his legal team was simply using delaying tactics.

KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur was fully focused on the federation and Punjab, and not worried at all about the law and order situation in Kurram and Parachinar, Mr Iqbal asserted, adding that while blood was being spilt in these areas, KP government resources were being used for the PTI protest.

Similar sentiments were also expressed by Federal ministers Musadik Malik and Amir Muqam.

Amjad Mahmood in Lahore also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2024