LAHORE — PTI head Imran Khan vowed on Thursday night that he would continue the battle for “real freedom” even if he was alone.
His remarks come as prominent PTI leaders, including former federal minister for national health services Aamer Mehmood Kiani and former federal minister for environment Malik Amin Aslam, announced their resignations, citing the party’s involvement in the May 9 attacks on “security installations” as the reason, with others calling on Mr Khan to publicly condemn the attacks.
“Don’t you dare think I’ll step back due to pressure,” he remarked during an interactive session with media at his Zaman Park mansion. He stated that if two assassination attempts failed to knock him down, he would remain standing.
Mr Khan went on to explain that he would want to extend his sympathy to people who left the PTI due to the difficult circumstances they were through. “I am aware of the intensity of the pressure you are under, but the way you are facing it, neither I nor the nation will forget you,” he continued.
Imran wonders who enjoys fighting in the army.
He inquired as to who enjoyed battling his troops. “Fighting the army means losing the country,” he went on.
“Show me a person who is not condemning the attack on the Corps Commander House in Lahore,” Mr Khan remarked, adding that he was not in negotiations with anybody at the time. “I’ll only talk about elections,” he continued.
He claimed he had documentation of how individuals were forced to the Corps Commander House in Lahore. “Bring out the CCTV footage to reveal who burned down the house,” he continued. He said that PTI officials, including Dr Yasmin Rashid, had forbidden them from damaging the Jinnah residence.
The former prime minister stated that the PTI was certain that 25 unarmed protesters were fired at directly during demonstrations, but that it had no information about the others. “As many as 7000 PTI workers have been arrested,” he went on to say. According to him, an impartial panel investigating it would assist in uncovering an orchestrated plot.
PDM’s “plan” to pit the PTI against the army
At one point, he hinted that the PDM had devised a scheme to pit the PTI against the army and subsequently put a ban on it. “It was because they lost 30 by-elections out of 37 [national] contests,” he said.
Mr Khan went on to suggest that they [the government] were using tactical knockout. “They’ve been trying to get rid of the party for a year and it’s only increased the PTI’s vote bank,” he continued.
He said it was all part of the [larger] London plot to smash the party and assassinate him.
The validity of Punjab’s temporary administration is being questioned.
He questioned the validity of the Punjab caretaker government, claiming it was established just to organise elections. “They have violated the constitution,” he went on to say. He stated that the federal government conspired with the ECP and Punjab’s interim administration.
He went on to declare that any option other than free and fair elections would be disastrous for Pakistan. “Pakistan is facing historic inflation,” he said. Everyone predicted that the economy would grow following political stability.
Imran’s rousing appeal to the people
Earlier, the former prime minister attacked the PDM on Twitter, stating, “A gang of thugs and criminals is dominating the country.”
“Amidst the country’s deep economic woes and challenges from rising unemployment,” he bemoaned, “the rulers are using their power to eliminate the country’s leading political party through a fascist approach.”