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The federal government has formed a committee to review “threatening” statements issued by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan and plan out its future course of action, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah announced on Tuesday.
Led by Sanaullah, the committee also includes PMLN leader Ayaz Sadiq, PPP’s Qamar Zaman Kaira, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar and the JUIF’s Asad Mehmood. Addressing a press conference alongside Qamar Zaman Kaira of the Pakistan Peoples Party and Asad Mehmood of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl), he accused the chief ministers of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan—both ruled by the PTI—of using state resources to support the “criminal” agenda of Imran Khan. “Several departments’ resources were availed for this illegal long march,” he said, claiming the provincial police force was “forced” to participate in the long march to facilitate it.
Alleging that the federation was targeted to “advance the agenda of dividing the nation and misleading the youth,” he said the protesters accompanying Khan from Peshawar had opened fire on police who tried to stop them at Attock, Mianwali, and Islamabad. “They [PTI] utilized fraudulent declarations to get the Supreme Court to issue an order allowing them to proceed toward Islamabad unhindered,” he said, noting they had been allowed to stage a protest at the H-9 Park in Islamabad.
“But their purpose was never a rally or any political activity,” he alleged. “Their purpose was to enter Islamabad and provoke anarchy; seize Islamabad; and make the government dysfunctional,” he claimed, adding that the party had announced it was proceeding toward D-Chowk immediately upon receiving the Supreme Court instructions to stage its rally at H-9 Park.
“There were about 3-4,000 people gathered at D-Chowk prior to [Imran Khan’s] arrival,” he said, noting they were all from the “same province.” Claiming that this group had been transported into Islamabad a day earlier, he alleged that some had been housed at Parliament Lodges and others at KP House. “They [PTI] committed contempt of court,” he said, adding that the PTI chairman’s admission that some of his supporters were armed during the long march was “sufficient evidence” for this, even though the apex court had dismissed the federal government’s contempt petition against the PTI.
“This is a criminal act,” he said of the long march. “This was no political rally,” he said, adding that this was punishable under the Criminal Code. “I have requested permission from the federal cabinet to allow me to file a case on this,” he said, adding that the government had “plenty of evidence”—including audio recordings—to prove its stance. “Everyone involved in this criminal act should be arrested and prosecuted,” he stressed.
Supporting the interior minister, JUIF’s Mehmood—who is also the communications minister—said that while peaceful protest was a fundamental right, there was no justification for using violence to achieve one’s goals.
A day earlier, addressing a lawyers’ convention in Peshawar, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan had claimed that he would utilize his province’s “force” to support any future protest march announced by PTI Chairman Imran Khan. “When Imran Khan again gives a call, I am telling you that I will use Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s force,” he said, in a seeming reference to the provincial law enforcement authorities, though he did not explicitly specify who he was referring to.
Referring to injuries caused by police action against participants of the PTI’s “Azadi March,” the chief minister claimed the PTI would approach the courts against the “imported government.” Claiming that the party would soon register a case against Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah under Section 302 (premeditated murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code, he vowed that “we will not spare him.”
Also on Monday, ousted prime minister Imran Khan reiterated that he had called off a planned sit-in in Islamabad to avert bloodshed. During an interview, he said he was “100 percent sure” there would be violence, adding that some of the PTI’s workers were “also armed” and there was risk of them opening fire on law enforcement personnel.