Imran defends PTI workers’ protest on May 9

LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has defended his party workers protest on May 09.In a video message on social media, he said that people saw that Rangers, which is military, was abducting him unlawfully and baton-charging people and him. “If they had no right to protest peacefully! And where they had to demonstrate, in front of GHQ, where there is Army, in the cantonments, where else they had to protest,” Imran questioned. Peaceful protest was their right, he asserted. Those involved in arson should be proceeded against strictly, he added. Meanwhile, Imran Khan has insisted that the current political situation is not a big crisis for him.

“You think it is a big crisis for me, I don’t,” said the former prime minister — who was ousted last April through a vote of no-confidence — while speaking during an interview with BBC on Monday.

Speaking about the upcoming general elections in the country, Khan said his position will only be weakened if he loses the vote bank. However, dozens of the party’s bigwigs including Shireen Mazari, Ali Zaidi and Fawad Chaudhry among others have parted ways with Khan citing attacks on the military installations as the reason.

“Firstly, we will fill in all the positions of people who have left,” he said, adding, “So have younger blood, newer people coming in. They’ll probably get arrested, too.” Khan also said that it is possible that he will be put in jail and added that he is watching the whole scenario and waiting. “The idea that I would give in to this or I will accept this and keep quiet about it, it’s not going to happen.”

The deposed prime minister also questioned how will Pakistan benefit by getting him out of the race. “I wonder what they want to achieve from all of this.”Talking about the May 9 riots that led to the PTI workers damaging public properties and storming military installations almost across the country, Khan said: “I have never talked to any party worker in a way that would lead to incidents like this.”

He added: “The term red line means a country where there is no rule of law and people are picked up.” He went on to say that if “I am put in jail then there will be a reaction”.The PTI chairman also said that elections would take place this year in any case. “We will campaign for this election no matter what.”