Punjab minister says PTI should be treated as terrorist entity

LAHORE: As Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is not backing down from holding a protest at Islamabad’s D-Chowk amid visits of foreign dignitaries, Punjab Minister for Information Azma Bokhari said the PTI should be treated as a terrorist entity as it was not a political party.

The Punjab minister said this in an interview with Geo News programme 'Geo Pakistan' on Friday.

To a query, Bokhari said she heard Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s presser a day ago and she believed he would not let the PTI activists enter Islamabad.

The interior minister on Thursday warned the PTI against holding the public gathering as visits of foreign dignitaries were planned in Islamabad, including the Malaysian prime minister.

Amid its anti-government campaign, the former ruling party — founded by Imran Khan — is holding protests for the “independence” of the judiciary and the release of the former prime minister from jail.

The protest will coincide with the final day of the Malaysian prime minister’s visit to Pakistan and the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit . The authorities have already enforced Section 144 and “the Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Act, 2024”, regulating holding of public assemblies at certain places in Islamabad.

“The PTI’s top leadership should review its protest call […] No one will be allowed for an onrush on Islamabad,” the security czar said while addressing a presser along with officials of the federal police.

Meanwhile, the provincial information minister the PTI had always worked against Pakistan’s development.

"The country is progressing and inflation is dropping, but they cannot sit with peace," she said.

She blamed PTI of using teargas shelling on police officials during last protest, adding that they would not have been stopped if they held peaceful protest. But they came for creating anarchy, she maintained.

“The people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa should ask them why they do not do work. You cannot use public resources for vandalism,” she said.

On the other hand, she said Punjab was peaceful and people were busy in their daily routine works. Since the Punjab chief minister was doing her job, the residents of the province had no interest in participating in the demonstration, she added.