File photo
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Thursday announced fresh nationwide protests against the incumbent government on Sunday (June 19), nearly a month after he abruptly called off a sit-in at Islamabad’s D-Chowk.
On May 26, after reaching Islamabad from Peshawar with a convoy of supporters, Khan called off a planned protest in the federal capital and gave a six-day deadline to the government to announce fresh elections. That deadline has come and gone with little in the way of any progress in the PTI’s efforts to dislodge the incumbent government; the party has repeatedly stated that it wishes for the Supreme Court to “guarantee” it would not be hampered in any way prior to launching any new protest movement.
In subsequent interviews, the PTI chairman has claimed that he called off his Islamabad protest to avoid “bloodshed” as some of his supporters were armed and would’ve retaliated against police.
“This Sunday, all of you have to protest at 9 p.m. and I will address all of you via video link at 10 p.m.,” he told supporters via video statement on Thursday. Stressing that the demonstrations should be “peaceful,” he invited supporters of all political parties, as well as women and children, to participate and raise their voices against the rampant inflation provoked by a recent surge in fuel prices.
“It is our democratic and constitutional right to protest; we have always held peaceful protests,” he claimed, as he continued his rhetorical questions to the incumbent government about why they had ousted him from power if they could not provide relief to the public.
Criticizing the incumbent government for accusing the PTI of leaving “landmines” for it through unsustainable subsidies, he reiterated his claims that the country had been “derailed” when it was headed in the right direction. “[You] did it just to save your corruption,” he claimed.
Referring to the government’s justification of rising global inflation being responsible for the international crisis, he said it was good they had understood this now. “We were facing these issues as well. I repeatedly stated that we were saving our people from inflation despite a global increase in prices,” he added.