Imran wants do-or-die protest; senior PTI leaders fear it may backfire

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder chairman Imran Khan wants a date for do-or-die ultimate protest and possible sit-in in Islamabad, but he is being persuaded by party’s senior leaders it may backfire if such a protest is announced without proper planning and considering all pros and cons.

PTI sources told The News most of the party’s senior leaders, who are members of the parliament or in the KPK government, do not support going for an all-out protest. Even some of those, who make fiery speeches, fear the all-out protest option will not work and may damage the party and its cause.

Almost all the leading PTI MPs are among those who are against the do-or-die protest and believe it will neither help release Imran Khan nor will benefit party in any manner.

Instead, they warn it will bring more problems for the party. It is said firstly the government would not allow such a protest and may counter it with state power as has been done in the past. There will be more arrests and more registration of cases against the party leaders and workers.

Secondly, even if the government gives free hand to PTI to hold the protest, Imran Khan cannot be released from jail by protesters or the leaders leading the protest. The party, it is said, needs resources for a 2014-like sit-in. Without proper planning and in the absence of adequate resources, a sit-in cannot sustain.

It is argued Imran Khan got relief in different cases, also acquitted in some, and this has all happened through a legal battle in the court of law. Imran Khan’s release from jail, it is said, is only possible through legal and constitutional means.

Some party leaders sitting abroad, majority of those in hiding and a few who could not win Feb 8 elections are, however, pressing for all-out do-or-die protest. They want an immediate announcement of date for the protest march on Islamabad and a sit-in at D-Chowk.

When contacted, PTI Secretary Information Waqas Shaikh admitted that two views do exist in the party on the issue of giving a final call for the protest. He, however, said that when Imran Khan gave the date for the protest everybody would follow without bothering about preparedness. Shaikh said that no matter what the second tier leadership of the party thought, party workers despite facing hardships and cases now really wanted a final date for the do-or-die protest.