PTI Chairman Imran Khan is leading the long march toward Islamabad with the party and the government still at loggerheads.
The PTI chair, before ending the fourth day of the march, announced that the caravan would reach Islamabad within eight to nine days — as opposed to the earlier schedule, when it was expected to arrive in the capital on November 4.
This is the PTI chair's second march towards Islamabad after he was ousted via a no-confidence motion earlier this year.
The political instability in Pakistan has also fuelled economic uncertainty, with international rating agencies questioning if the current government can maintain difficult economic policies in the face of political pressure and looming elections.
The fourth day of PTI's long march has come to an end and it will resume from Gujranwala tomorrow.
Khan addressed his workers while stopping at Chan Da Qila and said that he would be continuing his journey towards Gujranwala tomorrow (Tuesday).
"As soon as we pass through a city, Pakistanis will see that revolution is coming in the country. The entire nation is a witness that a peaceful revolution is coming to Pakistan," Khan said.
He told the attendees of the march that in order to ensure the supremacy of law in the country, he needed the support of the public.
"We will only get true freedom once we can have a government of people's choice," he said, adding that as long as "thieves" continue to be imposed on people after seeking NROs, nothing can change.
"This nation will never accept these thieves."
Khan said that once he will reach Gujranwala, he would spend an entire day with the pehalwans there.
"Freedom is not served on a plate. You have to sacrifice for that," he said, adding that whenever the country would need a sacrifice, he would be the first one to render it.
Khan told his followers that he is not a mental slave to anyone.
Speaking about how he respects Pakistani culture, Khan said that whenever he goes abroad, he makes sure to wear shalwar kameez as opposed to wearing a suit because he doesn't want to be a slave to the West.
"I am not a mental slave to anyone. The Americans have made them [coalition government leaders] slaves so that they could not make any decisions on their own."
He reiterated that real freedom implied freedom from external masters.
The PTI chairman also said that he wants the Pakistani passport to be respected all over the world.
Holding an address in Eminabad, Imran Khan said that it will take 8 to 9 days to reach Islamabad.
Earlier, the PTI chairman had said the march will enter the federal capital on November 4.
"Our convoys will leave from all over Pakistan for Islamabad. People are joining us from Sindh, Balochistan, and Gilgit-Baltistan," Khan said.
He also took a jibe at PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and said that the "fugitive is waiting for the environment of the country to be suitable for his return."
Addressing the party workers and supporters in Kamoke, Imran Khan once again criticised the army and said that they should "not side with the thieves for God's sake".
The PTI chairman added that those who stand with thieves will be equally responsible.
"When Musharraf removed the two families [Sharifs and Bhuttos] for corruption, the whole nation stood with the establishment. But now, you have dry-cleaned them and imposed them on us again," he said.
Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal asked PTI chair Imran Khan if he has the "guts" to seek damages from Financial Times.
The PTI chair, once again, questioned the powers of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, saying that he was powerless.
He also asked the the country's rulers to not treat the Pakistani public like animals. "They are not sheep that once you say they are clean that they will follow them," he added.
Former prime minister Imran Khan, while addressing the protestors at Kamoke, announced that he will be sending a Rs10 billion notice to Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja for taking his name in the Toshkhana reference.
“Sikandar Sultan I will get the money for the damages from you,” said the PTI chief. He added that he will be filing a case against the ECP chief in court.
“I will pay the damages that I win to the [Shaukat Khanum] Hospital. Sikander Sultan, you raised a question on my integrity,” said the PTI chief.
2:00pm — Imran Khan addresses supporters
PTI Chairman Imran Khan addresses his supporters on the fourth day of his party's long march to Islamabad.
PTI leader Ali Nawaz Awan and counsel Babar Awan visited the office of the deputy commissioner, seeking a no-objection certificate (NOC) for the party's long march and sit-in.
The party once again requested the Islamabad administration for permission for the long march and a sit-in in the federal capital.
The PTI has asked to stage a sit-in between G-9 and H-9 on November 4.
PTI Chairman Imran Khan arrived at deceased journalist Sadaf Naeem's residence to condole with her family.
Sadaf was crushed by PTI's container during the long march on Sunday.
Punjab Chief Minister Pervez Elahi announced compensation for the family of a cop who lost his life after a heart attack while on duty in Muridke for the PTI's long march.
We are sorry for the incident of the police driver Constable Liaqat Ali's death due to a heart attack while on duty and express out heartfelt sympathy to the family members," Elahi wrote on Twitter.
Throwing shade on PTI Chairman Imran Khan's statement from earlier today in which he claimed to be seeing a "revolution" in the country due to his long march, PML-N said it is a shame that the party was posting old pictures to show what Imran called "a sea of people".
PTI leader Asad Umar on Monday visited the residence of deceased journalist Sadaf Naeem, who was crushed under a container during the party's long march.
He claimed Sadaf's family said that she was covering this long march not only out of her professional responsibility, but also out of passion.
Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb fiercely responded to PTI chairman Imran Khan's tweet about a "revolution" taking over the country, saying that Khan has admitted that his party's long march was a bloody one.
Punjab Government Spokesperson Musarrat Cheema announced that fourth day of the PTI's march will resume from Kamoke.
As the PTI's march enters its fourth day, PTI Chairman Imran Khan said that after seeing the "revolution" happening in the country, the only question that remains is whether it will come through the "ballot box" or "bloodshed".
Taking to Twitter, the PTI chairman shared visuals of the "sea of people" taking part in PTI's march along GT Road.
The administration of the federal capital has decided to fully secure all non-traditional passages linking Islamabad from adjoining areas from tomorrow (Tuesday) in the wake of the PTI long march that is supposed to reach outskirts on Thursday.
For the purpose, trained snipers would be deployed across the Margalla Hills and adjacent hilly areas making the borderline of the federal capital. It will make the criminal movement through the routes impossible.
The new and stringent steps have been taken in view of Ali Amin Gandapur’s audio leak regarding arrangements for weapons in a huge quantity just outside Islamabad for taking on law enforcement agencies.
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