Click to see more Shireen Mazari addresses journalists near Bani Gala.
"Nisar what inappropriate acts are the police committing? This is our democratic right. We don't have weapons or sticks, you can't stop us," she said, addressing the interior minister.
"Shahbaz Sharif, do what you want. We will see how you try to stop us."
"It is our democratic right," she maintained, to go to Bani Gala. "We will come to Bani Gala every day, leave at night and then return the next morning."
Mazari said she did not expect that Shahbaz Sharif or Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar would allow their fellow MNAs to be "tortured by police".
"The more you harass us, the more we will be committed to our cause," she said.
'PTI has a plan' PTI's Ali Zaidi speaking to Dawn.com claimed police had surrounded the area around Bani Gala and were "not letting food, water or people come here."
"We have invited all PTI workers from across the country to Bani Gala and then we will reach Islamabad on Nov 2. We have a plan and a strategy," Zaidi said.
Although the government has closed roads near Attock, no other roads in the province have been blocked 'completely', according to Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah. Snap-checking of those heading towards Islamabad is being carried out.
The provincial government has also imposed Section 144, banning public gatherings across Punjab until Nov 8.
Uncertainty grips PTI workers
Three days before Imran Khan’s plan to siege Islamabad, confusion prevails in the party about the venue where workers will assemble.
A senior PTI leader earlier told Dawn there is no coordination between the leadership and the workers and the latter have to go to the Banigala mansion of Imran Khan to get information. Workers have also been asked to watch private TV channels to get updates on the situation.
PTI Spokesman Naeemul Haq told Dawn earlier, “The problem is the government is taking action against the workers and it will be difficult for the workers to gather at one point on November 2. The workers will be asked to gather at the point where the police would stop them from entering Islamabad.”
Read more: Uncertainty grips PTI workers as Nov 2 approaches
PTI 'lockdown' The party has announced a 'lockdown' of the capital on Nov 2 if Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif doesn’t agree to an investigation into the Panama Papers leaks under the terms of reference proposed by the opposition or resigns from his position.
However, the PTI has apparently offered the government a way out of the prevailing crisis, suggesting that it enact legislation to constitute a judicial commission to probe the Panamagate scandal before Nov 2.
PTI Vice-Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Saturday told Dawn the government still has time to prevent the situation from worsening by convening sessions of the National Assembly and the Senate in order to pass the opposition-sponsored bill on the Panama Papers leak.
“If the government is serious, it can even promulgate an ordinance for the constitution of an inquiry commission under the terms of reference (ToR) unanimously presented by all opposition parties,” Qureshi said.
Read more: PTI offers govt a way out?