PTI protest: Minister says won't allow country to be held hostage

ISLAMABAD: On Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s call for protest in Islamabad on October 15, Minister for Defence Khawaja Asif has said the government would not allow it that the country was held hostage by a party, as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) heads of states were set to reach here.

The PTI’s announcement to stage a demonstration at the D-Chowk on the inaugural day of SCO summit has sent shock waves as the federal capital is set to host foreign dignitaries.

In a statement, Asif called PTI leaders pawns for international conspiracies.

"They staged a sit-in in 2014 and then the May 9 incident unfolded. These all are chain of destabilising the country," he said.

Lambasting the PTI for badmouthing the government, he said the rule was not something that one inherited, it was something that always slipped away from one's grasp. Whereas, once the PTI founder lost the power, he incited people for the May 9 violent incidents, he added.

The PTI has come under fire from various political parties for announcing the protest, with the government vowing to foil the party’s "conspiracy".

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Sherry Rehman said the PTI’s attempt to hold protest on October 15 would send one message only that the party put itself above Pakistan and it was ready to endanger country’s reputation as well as security at a time when the country was hosting a big international event.

"It appears they have not learned any lessons," said the senator.

Sherry claimed that in an embarrassing attempt to impede Pakistan's economic development, they first embroiled up the nation into a cyphergate issue before sending a letter to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The politician said the PTI once held a similar demonstration ahead of Chinese prime minister’s arrival. “If this irresponsible behaviour is not anti- Pakistan then what is it? This is their death knell, frankly,” she remarked.

Meanwhile, Minister for Information Attaullah Tarar said Islamabad had been made fully safe and secure to welcome foreign delegations including 12 heads of the governments for the SCO conference, scheduled for October 15-16.

“Those who have a mindset to conspire against the country should better stay at home as no miscreant will be allowed to disrupt the SCO Conference in Islamabad,” the minister said, addressing media in Islamabad.

“The announcements do not make any difference as Islamabad has been made fully safe and secure,” he said while referring to the PTI’s announcement.

“It (SCO Conference) will go as planned and will elevate Pakistan’s prestige and improve its image at international level,” Tarar remarked.

He said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has personally reviewed the arrangements for the reception of different head of governments arriving in Islamabad to attend the SCO conference.

“This shows the importance of such a grand event in Pakistan which will be instrumental to boost the economic growth in the country,” he added.

The minister said all the security arrangements had been finalised in Islamabad with the deployment of all the law enforcement agencies including Pakistan Army and Rangers.

Tarar said all the heads of governments participating in the SCO would be accorded a warm welcome in Islamabad as the whole nation is ready to celebrate the event with national pride.

The whole Islamabad has been decorated which would eventually leave a positive impression of Pakistan in minds of the visiting delegations, he noted.

He believed that the SCO would be a great success for Pakistan and would help enhance regional cooperation with a discussion on many important topics.

Despite maintaining a working relationship with the party over the proposed controversial constitutional amendment, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) spokesperson Aslam Ghori said his party did not support the PTI’s protest.

Talking to The News, he said his party chief earlier asked the government not to take up the constitutional amendments matter till conclusion of SCO summit and requested the PTI as well to call off its protest.

“PTI turned a deaf ear to our request and they are staging protest again which we cannot support,” he said.

Ghori said respectable foreign delegates were common guests to all, and the country as a whole needed to show unity amid their presence. In terms of protests, he stated they could be held after the SCO summit.

It would raise many questions, if they go ahead with the protest plan, he said.

Pakistan Ulema Council Chairman Tahir Ashrafi appealed the PTI to defer its protest, adding it was unacceptable to protest in presence of guests.

“After a long time, Pakistan is securing successes in economic and foreign affairs,” he added.

The PTI’s announcement to hold the demonstration at D-Chowk on October 15 came only a week after the embattled opposition party clashed with law enforcers in a bid to stage an anti-government protest at D-Chowk, turning the entire federal capital into a curfew zone for two days.

The PTI had launched a series of protests for the "independence of the judiciary" — as the government aims to introduce constitutional amendments — and for the release of its founder Imran Khan jailed at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail for more than one year.

PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said all organisational officials and wings from the centre to the lowest level had been directed to finalise the preparations for the D-Chowk protest.

It was pointed out that in view of the preparations for the peaceful protest of D-Chowk on October 15, the protest announced in different districts of Punjab has been cancelled.

PTI’s political committee alleged that PTI founder chairman Imran Khan is being subjected to a new series of brutality in Adiala (jail) and that his life, health and safety have been deliberately exposed to serious threats, and all his basic and human rights have been taken away.

In return for not bowing down to oppression and lawlessness and not accepting the state’s efforts to undermine the Constitution, the government is engaged in conspiracies to endanger Imran’s security, it said.

“Imran Khan is the most popular and reliable leader of the nation and the spokesman of the political and national aspirations of millions of Pakistanis,” it claimed. The political committee warned that if the rulers did not immediately restore the basic rights of Imran, and full access was not given to his lawyers, doctors, families and leaders, then the whole of Pakistan would come out on October 15 for full protest.

It demanded the immediate release of the “illegally detained workers, citizens and members of the provincial assembly from across Punjab”.

In the statement the federal and Punjab governments were also demanded to immediately stop the series of raids and roundups while violating the sanctity of the house.