Long march to resume tomorrow: Imran

LAHORE: Announcing the resumption of long march from Tuesday (tomorrow), former prime minister and Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan claimed on Sunday that the attack on him was carried out through a planned script.

He said he would address the long march participants from Lahorethrough video-link on daily basis, and reach Rawalpindi to lead it physically when it would reach there in the next 10 to 14 days.

Addressing a press conference at the Shaukat Khanum Hospital, Imran said the march would resume from the same point in Wazirabad where he was shot at. Shah Mehmood Qureshi would lead the march up to Rawalpindi, where he would join it physically.

Imran welcomed the announcement by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to request the chief justice of Pakistan for the formation of a full court judicial commission to investigate the Wazirabad incident. However, he asked how a body could hold a fair probe while the investigating agencies were working under those three who had been nominated as the accused by him. He said resignation of these three persons from their offices was a must for an impartial probe into the attack.

Imran said if the cipher was a drama, as claimed by the director general (DG) Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), why an inquiry into it was not initiated. The PTI chairman also expressed dismay over the alleged maltreatment of party stalwart Senator Azam Khan Swati. He said he had already disclosed what had been done to Azam on the instructions of a senior army officer. Khan said Swati was beaten before his grandchildren and was threatened that similar treatment would be meted out to his leader Imran Khan. He said the issue related to the video sent to the family of Azam Swati should also be probed through a judicial commission.

The PTI chairman also said that the entire PTI leadership and senators would sit with Azam Swati in a sit-in outside the Supreme Court. Imran said the entire nation was looking towards the Supreme Court for justice to Azam Swati.

Imran Khan regretted that despite having their government in Punjab, “we are unable to register a case about the incident. One can well imagine what would be the situation of a common person.”

Meanwhile, Imran Khan was discharged from hospital on Sunday. Doctors advised him rest for the next few days. Later, Imran reached his Zaman Park residence amid tight security. Separately, Shah Mehmood Qureshi took to his Twitter account to share the announcement of his leading the march from Wazirabad. He said from Rawalpindi, Imran Khan would lead the march to the federal capital.

“Insha-Allah, the real azadi march will start from Tuesday. [From the point] where these cowards attacked our leader Imran Khan and shed the blood of Moazzam Shaheed. And, it is an honour for me that I will lead this convoy to Pindi,” Qureshi said.

The exact date of the march reaching the federal capital has not been given by the PTI leadership. Before the attack, Imran had said the protest could continue even after the march participants reaching Islamabad. It was a clear deviation from his earlier position that it would culminate in Islamabad within eight to 10 days during November after getting the polls date. The march had started from Lahore’s Liberty Chowk on October 28.

PTI leader Hammad Azhar, talking to the media at the Shaukat Khanum Hospital, said the party would continue its peaceful protest against the attempted assassination of Imran Khan. Hammad said a total of Rs15 million would be given to the family of Moazzam Gondal, the man who lost his life during the gun attack on Imran Khan on Nov 3 in Wazirabad.

He said he would take the bereaved family of Moazzam for a meeting with Imran Khan. Hammad said the PTI had given Rs5 million to the children of Moazzam and the Punjab government would also give another Rs5 million to the bereaved family in a day or two. The PTI would bear all expenses of Moazzam’s children, he promised.