ISLAMABAD — The anti-government ‘Final Call’ protest rally of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), that started from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Peshawar on Sunday, has now reached the outskirts of Islamabad where massive security arrangements have been made to prevent its entry into the country’s capital.
Bushra Bibi, wife of imprisoned former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, is leading the protest and has vowed to continue it until her husband is released from the jail.
Along with Bushra Bibi, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur is also leading the rally that has attracted thousands of PTI supporters.
The protesters, who had camped a few kilometers away from Islamabad on Sunday, were targeted with rubber bullets by the security forces.
Several shipping containers have also been placed on the roads leading to Islamabad to prevent their entry into the capital.
Addressing PTI supporters, Bushra Bibi called on everyone to move forward and ensure the release of Imran Khan.
“We will keep marching forward and won’t go back without Imran Khan. We will not call off the protest until Imran Khan is released. Even if no one is left standing with me, I will still not go back without Imran Khan. I call on the pathans of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to show their strength. I am sure that they will not compromise on their respect and dignity,” she said.
The PTI supporters have set Islamabad’s D-Chowk as their targeted destination with plans to hold a protest sit-in at the significant location.
Besides demanding release of Imran Khan, they also want return of mandate in February’s general elections, which PTI claims was stolen, and reversal of the 26th amendment.
On the other hand, the government maintains that it will not allow PTI supporters to spread violence and chaos in the country’s capital.
Azma Bukhari, spokesperson of the Punjab province, also slammed PTI for violent attacks on police officials and their vehicles.
“A police mobile van was torched in Khanna pul, near Islamabad. Police officials were attacked and injured. We have been saying for a long time that PTI and peace cannot be clubbed together. PTI wants to make sure that there is bloodshed, that is why Bushra Bibi and Gandapur are forcing people to clash with the security forces,” said Bukhari while addressing a press conference in Lahore.
“PTI has failed miserably in Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan because no one has come out in their support. In KP, Gandapur is least bothered about the bloodshed in Kurram or Bajaur and is using all resources of his provincial government to facilitate the protest,” she added.
Meanwhile, certain reports suggest that there are active closed-door negotiations underway between PTI, the government and the military establishment.
Sources say that the PTI leadership is being asked to call off the protest and refrain from entering the capital, especially during the ongoing Pakistan visit of Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko, who landed in Islamabad on Monday.
PTI has also been communicated that it does not hold any legal permission to stage protests in the capital as Islamabad High Court (IHC) has stated that neither the protestors would be allowed to enter the capital nor any leniency would be shown to them.
But, it seems that the PTI workers are in no mood to relent and are all set to clash with the security officials until their leader Imran Khan is released from the jail.