Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan began the fourth day of his ‘Haqeeqi Azadi’ long march with an aggressive message, tweeting early on Monday that the sea of people on the roads with him signified the dawn of a revolution and asking “handlers and facilitators” if they would permit a peaceful revolution through the ballot or a violent one through bloodshed.
Mr. Khan posted: “The sea of individuals throughout our long march on the GT Road. Six months ago, a revolution seized control of the nation. The only question is whether it will be a peaceful one through the voting box or a bloody one through violence.”
On the other hand, former premier and PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif mocked Mr. Khan for ‘failing’ to collect even 2,000 people while claiming that a million people would support his march.
In his speech Monday at the beginning of the march from Kamoke, the PTI chief cautioned the establishment to recognize the pulse of the masses and stated that “no establishment can stand against its people since only their unity can ensure a country’s stability and sovereignty.”
In addition, he urged the establishment not to stand with the crooked looters, since they would also be viewed as “birds of a feather.” Reiterating that God forbids neutrality, Mr. Khan stated that the establishment would shame itself.
In addition, he attacked the Sharif and Zardari families for receiving an “NRO” from the previous president Pervez Musharraf. The “people of Pakistan evicted them by giving us [PTI] the mandate to rule in 2018, but the establishment re-imposed those corrupt thieves on the populace — after dry-cleaning,” he said.
Mr. Khan stated that he wanted to convey a message to the true power brokers that he would never negotiate with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whom he referred to as an establishment “tout” who “polished boots.”
If the people and institutions look in opposite directions, no institution can function,” he remarked, adding that he was the only leader with public support, having won 75% of by-elections in the last six months and setting a “world record” by capturing seven of the eight National Assembly seats in a single election.
The former premier addressed the participants of the long march at three locations: Kamoke, Morr Aimenabad, and the day’s finale at Chan Da Qila, around 12 kilometers from Gujranwala. He said that he will spend the entire day (today) in Gujranwala, alleging that the slow pace of the march would require an additional eight to nine days to reach Islamabad. He urged citizens from every corner of the nation to travel to the capital.
The chairman of the PTI stated that the entire nation was following the “revolution” marching towards Islamabad, even on their cell phones, while the “imported administration and its handlers” attempted to close their eyes by blacking out television coverage.
After claiming that the Islamabad High Court had overturned his disqualification by the electoral commission, the former prime minister criticized Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, calling him dishonest and a Sharif family servant.
Since Mr. Raja had questioned his honesty, he stated that he would issue an Rs10 billion defamation notice to the CEC. Because of his “honesty and integrity,” he added, people were donating Rs9 billion to Shaukat Khanum Hospital and sponsoring his Namal and Al-Qadir universities. “If I perform any criminal act, I will not wait for a court’s verdict; I would go on my own,” he insisted.
At Morr Aimenabad, Imran Khan referred to the long march as a “jihad” to achieve “true freedom” in which the mighty and the weak would be rewarded and punished based on merit.
“Shehbaz Sharif should have been imprisoned, but he was made prime minister,” he added, adding that “mercenary” Rana Sanaullah was appointed interior minister. Similarly, Nawaz Sharif was convicted following two years of investigation by a JIT, he claimed, adding that the current, imposed rulers have been plundering the country for thirty years.
After the day’s march, Mr. Khan took an oath from the participants that they would continue to fight for “true independence” and be willing to make any sacrifice.
No talks, to save face for Imran
In the meantime, on Monday, PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif advised his younger brother, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, not to accept the demands of PTI chairman Khan. “Don’t listen to this fitna’s demands, and don’t allow him any chance to save face,” he tweeted late Monday evening.
The former prime minister made a jab at Mr. Khan and his long march, stating that the man who claimed to get one million people out onto the streets could not even muster 2,000 people. Mr. Sharif stated in a series of tweets that he had urged the prime minister not to yield to Khan’s demands, regardless of whether he brought 2,000 or 20,000 protestors. The PTI chairman should likewise be denied any opportunity to save face. Instead, he recommended that Shehbaz devote all of his efforts to serving the public.
Since Khan’s lies had been exposed, said Nawaz, the nation had become apathetic to his argument. “He told one lie after another with such brutality and audacity that the ISI director-general was compelled to break his quiet and tell the nation the truth,” he claimed, adding that Khan had not provided a clarification since then.
“Therefore, his full concentration is devoted to cursing as per usual,” he stated.
Journalists have been harassed
Five policemen, including City Station House Officer (SHO) Manzar Saeed, were suspended by the Punjab chief minister for alleged fights with media covering the PTI’s lengthy march.
Reportedly, police officers harassed reporters of a private television station about the parking of DSNG trucks, resulting in an altercation at Kamoke City Chowk. City SHO Saeed and his colleagues allegedly arrived on the scene and tortured the journalists.
The Chief Minister of Punjab, Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, took note of the conduct of the police and suspended five personnel, including the SHO.
“Contrary to misinformation”
Separately, the United States announced that it would continue to combat disinformation with information.
State Department Spokesperson Ned Price stated, in response to Imran Khan’s frequent accusation that the United States is plotting to overthrow his administration, “What we can do is challenge disinformation and misinformation with information.”
Mr. Price, speaking at a daily news briefing in Washington, stated that the State Department has denied these charges “many times” from this platform, as they are false.
We will not allow propaganda, misinformation, or disinformation to interfere with a crucial bilateral relationship, particularly our treasured bilateral collaboration with Pakistan,” he emphasized.
In response to another query, Mr. Price stated that Pakistan’s next general elections had not yet been announced, but “We encourage the peaceful conduct of constitutional and democratic elections worldwide, including in Pakistan. These are topics that we discuss with all of our international partners.”
Anwar Iqbal in Washington and Akram Malik in Gujranwala also contributed to this report.
