GUJRANWALA/GHAKHAR -      MANDI/ISLAMABAD
As the sixth day of the
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf
([PTI) long march ended
in Ghakhar Mandi, Chairman Khan Wednesday
warned that his protest,
which he calls a movement for ‘haqeeqi azadi’ (real freedom), will
continue for the next
10 months. “Nobody  should think our movement will
end in Islamabad. It will continue for the next 10 months until we don’t have elections,” he
said addressing the participants
at Ghakhar Mandi, a small town
on GT Road near Gujranwala.
He reiterated not to accept the
present government and would
rather die than “bow down before these thieves”.
leader Faisal Javed Khan late
Wednesday tweeted that Imran
Khan’s long march demanding
immediate elections “has become Pakistan’s biggest march
ever as thousands and thousands of people joining in. “Day
7 will start from Wazriabad tomorrow. Over 2 million people
will enter Islamabad after the
10th of Nov,” he claimed.
Also, former premier Imran
khan said that he was witnessing huge crowds and can safely bet that rallies in Rawalpindi and Islamabad would break
all records. He also said that a
revolution was underway and
it was up to the government if
it would channelize it through
elections. Imran Khan on
Wednesday asked the people of
Pakistan to “stand up for their
rights”, as he targeted his political opponents, saying the coalition government came to power
through a “deal” to get their corruption cases quashed.
Addressing his followers in
Gujranwala in Punjab province on the start of the 6th day
of his protest march which he
launched from Lahore on October 28, Khan said former prime
minister Nawaz Sharif was getting ready to return while his
younger brother and the incumbent premier Shehbaz Sharif got
his cases settled under a “deal”.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf
(PTI) chief also alleged that
ex-president Asif Ali Zardari
also had his corruption cases
settled. “What I see is that only
small crooks will be caught and
the rich will go scot-free,” the
70-year-old leader said, adding that criminals have become
leaders. He lamented that Pakistan’s biggest issue is that
corrupt people get into leadership without any accountability. Talking about a case against
Shehbaz, Khan alleged that the
incumbent premier was close to
getting convicted in the Rs 16
billion corruption cases but “he
was given a deal and was saved
and made prime minister”.
He also questioned the deaths
of officers investigating corruption cases against Shehbaz and
said “all officers died one after
another”. “All officers investigating Shehbaz’s corruption cases
died one after another. No one
asked how they died all of a sudden,” he said.
The former premier urged
people to “stand up for their
rights”, failing which they would
“never get justice”.
“I must say here that justice is
given out only in a human society. You all have to support me.
I tell you everyone that it’s better to die than becoming slaves,”
he added.
Meanwhile, the Islamabad Police in response to Khan’s claim
that security personnel would
join his march in the national capital rejected propaganda
campaigns by some “political
leaders” against officers of the
capital’s security force.
“ICT Police and other civil
armed forces are the guarantors
of peace in the federal capital…
Such propaganda campaigns
and rumours will strengthen
the determination and morale
of the officials,” it tweeted. It
also said that all the officers and
jawans have a clear understanding of their duties and they are
working according to the law.
Meanwhile, after the protest
march’s slow movement towards Islamabad came under
criticism, party leader Fawad
Chaudhry hit back, saying it
would proceed at its own pace.
“We will also keep changing our
plan to reach Islamabad to baffle the government,” he said.
The party’s long march, now
on the road for six days, was to
reach Islamabad in seven days
according to the initial plan.
The march was scheduled to
arrive in Islamabad on November 4, but PTI leader Asad Umar
said that the protest convoy
would reach the capital on November 11.
The Punjab provincial home
department has issued a high
alert for Rawalpindi ahead of
the arrival of Khan’s long march.
The provincial home department has asked the district administration, police, law
enforcement agencies and hospitals to remain on high alert
and take precautionary measures ahead of the protest
march.
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah while addressing a news
conference in the federal capital on Tuesday, had asked the
PTI chief to shun politics of “agitation” and sit down with the
political parties to resolve disputes through dialogue “for the
sake of Pakistan”.
Khan has been demanding
early elections and he is leading
the long march towards Islamabad Meanwhile, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Wednesday revealed that he would send
PTI Chairman Imran Khan to
Balochistan after arresting him.
“I will keep him [Khan] in the
Mirchi Ward at Machh Jail as
several politicians have lived
there previously,” he said during
a talk show on a private TV
channel.
The interior minister also revealed that BNP chief Akhtar
Mengal has taken promise that
if Khan is arrested he would be
kept in Macch Jail. Sanauallah
vowed that if he laid his hands
on Khan he won’t spare him.