ISLAMABAD: PTI chairman Imran Khan gave six-day ultimatum to government to dissolve assemblies and announce fresh elections.
Addressing the participants of the ‘Azadi March’ at Jinnah Avenue, PTI chairman said he had reached Islamabad after 30 hours of travelling from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“Government has tried every method to crush our Azadi March, they used teargas on peaceful protest, our homes were raided and privacy of the homes were violated, however I have seen the nation free itself of fear of slavery,” he said.
Imran Khan said three PTI workers lost their lives in Karachi while two workers were thrown off Ravi Bridge and thousands others were arrested.
Giving a deadline to the government to announce the date for fresh polls in the country, Imran Khan said, “he is giving a six-day ultimatum to the government to dissolve assemblies and announce general elections in June.”
“My message for imported government is to dissolve assemblies and announce elections, otherwise I will come back again to Islamabad after six days,” he added.
As the situation turned chaotic in Islamabad after PTI Chairman Imran Khan and his convoy entered the federal capital and started marching towards the city’s D-Chowk, the government decided to seek the help of the army to control the situation and protect the government’s offices located in the Red Zone.
The government, in a notification, said that the army was summoned to control the situation under article 245 of the Constitution.
The decision comes after the protests staged by PTI workers took a violent turn as they clashed with law enforcement agencies (LEAs) in the federal capital and injured multiple rangers, police, and Frontier Constabulary personnel, according to the Islamabad Police spokesperson.
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah took to Twitter and confirmed the development.
Following the government’s decision to summon the army, Islamabad Police issued a warning to the protesters and asked them to refrain from entering the Red Zone.
“Entry into the Red Zone will not be tolerated. All protesters and their leaders are requested to refrain from entering the said area in compliance with the orders of the court,” the Islamabad Police tweeted.
Later, the Inspector-General of Islamabad Police Dr Akbar Nasir Khan issued a statement and said that the police had been ordered not to use “unnecessary force” against the protesters.
“The police and other law enforcement agencies deployed in Islamabad are not carrying any weapons. But information has been received that some of the protesters are carrying weapons that could lead to the loss of precious lives. Therefore, all protesters are requested to keep the protest peaceful as it was a political process.”
On the way to the federal capital, Khan and his caravan stopped at Hasan Abdal where he addressed his workers and said that as soon as the police would see him reaching D-Chowk, it too would realise that “we are here for jihad, not politics.”
“We will not leave D-Chowk until the government announces a date for the elections in the month of June,” Khan said.
Meanwhile, protesters that had already reached D-Chowk continued clashing with the police. As a result, the LEAs fired teargas shells at the demonstrators. Once the shelling stopped, PTI workers once again started assembling at the intersection. Seeing that, the police fired teargas shells to disperse them once again.
Taking to Twitter, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman condemned the deteriorated law and order situation in the capital and said that the Supreme Court had made the executive’s policy to maintain the law and order situation ineffective which created an impression of facilitating the PTI.
“Now the SC will have to clear its position and take steps to remove this impression of facilitating the PTI,” he said.
Fazlur Rehman said the apex court should begin contempt of court proceedings against the PTI leadership for violating the commitment made in the SC.
Read more: Imran Khan’s convoy enters Punjab as protesters try to wriggle out of roadblocks
