LAHORE: Two days ahead of the much-touted rally at Minar-i-Pakistan slated to be held on Wednesday, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan said the caretaker government wanted to “sabotage” the public gathering — which would “also serve as a referendum against the incumbent government” — by employing delaying tactics under the cover of permission.

Asserting that democracy is being demolished, Mr Khan said that general elections in Punjab have been scheduled for April 30 but no election environment is being allowed to prevail. “Election rallies are being atta­cked by the caretaker government and permissions for public meetings are being delayed,” Mr Khan said.

When contacted, Punjab chief secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman and Deputy Commissioner Lahore Rafia Haider stayed mum over the question regarding the permission for the public gathering.

The former premier said the delay in permission for the public meeting was aimed at eclipsing the PTI gathering as the party would not have enough time for canvassing or setting up a stage at the venue. In light of these circumstances, the public meeting might face another delay, sources said.

PTI chief urges CJP to order probe into ‘presence of assassins at Judicial Complex’

While there were reports that the gathering may get postponed till Sunday, party insiders said Ramazan would have begun by Sunday and it would not be possible for the former ruling party to organise the meeting during the day time.

‘Polls only solution’

In his televised address from the Zaman Park residence, Mr Khan said, “Holding free and fair elections is the only way to steer the country out of prevailing crises and bring political stability in the country, followed by economic stability and strengthening of the society,” he asserted.

The PTI chief also chided caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi for not doing anything in a bid to ensure free and fair elections. Mr Khan also asserted that the masses would come out in massive numbers at the Minar-i-Pakistan public meeting to show their distrust against the incumbent rulers. “My sixth public meeting at Minar-i-Pakistan venue in the past 12 years will serve as a referendum against the incumbent rulers,” he asserted.

‘PTI vs army’

The former prime minister also said the PDM government was trying to pit the Pakistan Army against the PTI. “The rulers are trying to mislead the army against PTI,” he claimed. “The army and this country belong to us as we will live here, but the incumbent corrupt rulers will run away as their wealth in dollars is stashed abroad,” he claimed.

Reiterating yet again that the incumbent rulers wanted to kill him and a “trap” was laid at the Islamabad Judicial Complex on the occasion of his hearing, the PTI chairman urged the chief justice to investigate that who were “plainclothesmen VIPs” that were allowed entry into the complex.

The PTI chief also ran video footage showing some “plainclothesm­en” entering the complex and added that one of his colleagues approached and beckoned him to immediately move away. He said police also pelted stones and bricks at his party workers and supporters to create a scene on the occasion and grab him under the cover of the altercation.

According to Mr Khan, “they can succeed any time (in killing me) because arresting and taking me to jail seems a Plan-B” of the government. He urged the CJP to allow him the facility of joining courts’ proceedings through a video-conference facility. He also lamented that the assailant, who fired to assassinate him, was being given a video-conference facility in jail.

The former premier urged the CJP to take note of the “human rights violations being committed by the PDM government and the caretaker government” in Punjab. He alleged the police were raiding his party’s senior leadership houses, harassing residents, picking up children, and ransacking belongings in the same as they ransacked his house.

Mr Khan said the incumbent rulers were using every kind of tactic to eliminate him as they were afraid of losing elections in his presence. Chiding the former army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa for ruining the peace and well-being of the country, the PTI chief said, “Even an enemy would not have been able to ruin Pakistan as he did.”

The PTI chief also announced that his party was collecting all evidence of human rights violations committed by the rulers and would be presented before the international human rights organisations as well as the European Union. He also asked his party chapters in all countries to take the case of human rights violations at all forums in their respective countries.

Published in Dawn, March 21st, 2023