ISLAMABAD: The government ruled out on Sunday the possibility of resuming dialogue with Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), after its chairman Imran Khan said he would shut down major cities, and then the whole country, later this month.

Most political parties rejected PTI chief’s call, fearing that the country would be plunged into a crisis if government machinery was disrupted.

Responding swiftly to Mr Khan’s ‘Plan C’, Information Minister Pervez Rashid said the government would not resume talks until the PTI chief gave up what he called “the politics of turmoil”.

Also read: Talks still an option for govt, PTI

“We cannot sit down to talk to someone who is working on a foreign agenda to destabilise the country. We will talk to somebody who is loyal and patriotic,” he said.

Mr Rashid alleged that foreign powers planned to have Pakistan declared a failed state. “By calling for a complete shutdown on Dec 16, Imran Khan is promoting the agenda of anti-Pakistan powers,” he said.

Know more:Reaction: Imran's announcement — 'C' for 'shutdown'?

“Imran Khan does not want any patients to go to hospital, no students to attend class and no factory or industry to run,” he said, adding that the government would foil Mr Khan’s plan.

“Youths, women and even the elderly will also come out of their homes and won’t allow PTI to forcibly close shops and shut down public transport during its protest,” he said.

He said Imran Khan wanted to recreate the bitterness of the fall of Dhaka -- seeing as he had chosen the anniversary of Pakistan’s defeat as the day that he would jam the machinery of the entire country.

Punjab Governor Chaudhry Sarwar said both the government and the PTI should be ready to render sacrifices to resolve the crisis. “The issue can be resolved only through dialogue,” he said.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Abid Sher Ali, who belongs to Faisalabad, the city that Mr Khan said he would “shut down” on Dec 8, said the PTI chief would have to sit on the negotiating table to settle the issue. He said all of Mr Khan’s plans had failed and ‘Plan C’ would meet a similar fate.

Karachi Traders Union President Atique Mir told Dawn that traders from the country’s commercial hub would not support Mr Khan’s call for a shutdown on Dec 12. “Any such call will cost the national exchequer billions of rupees,” he said.

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader and Sindh government spokesperson Sharjeel Memon said the provincial government would not allow Imran Khan to close down all of Karachi. “If PTI workers try to shut down the city by force, government machinery will swing into action,” he said.

PPP Information Secretary Qamar Zaman Kaira urged the government to resume talks with Imran Khan to find an amicable solution to the crisis.

He said the PTI leader’s announcement to “shut down” the country to force the government to accept his demands was not a wise decision.

“Imran Khan seems to be in a hurry. He should demonstrate patience because his call my lead to anarchy,” Mr Kaira said.

PPP stalwart Aitzaz Ahsan said it seemed that both of Imran’s previous plans, to secure the PM’s resignation and to get people to stop paying power bills, had failed.

ANP leader Zahid Khan said Imran Khan’s politics was leading the country down the path to devastation. “If this government is toppled and the constitution is abolished, then PTI will not be able to make a new constitution and keep the federating units together. We want the system to prevail,” he said.

Khurram Nawaz Gandapur of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) said the government was not serious in its attempts to hold dialogue with PTI and PAT from the very outset of their protest, or the political impasse would’ve been over long ago.

Published in Dawn, December 1st, 2014