Deadline for civil disobedience passes: Gandapur says call given by Imran, not by him

PESHAWAR: As the deadline of Dec 16 for launching civil disobedience has passed, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur on Sunday said they had not yet decided on the civil disobedience movement, saying it was originally proposed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan when the government started cracking down on the party workers following the November 26 protest in Islamabad’s D-Chowk.

He, however, warned of continuing their peaceful protest for the release of Imran Khan and other PTI prisoners, return of their mandate and reversal of the 26th Constitutional Amendment.

“If this fake government doesn’t accept our demands, there remains no other option but to continue our peaceful protest. We have three major demands -- the release of PTI founder Imran Khan and other party prisoners, return of our mandate to us and reversal of 26th Constitutional Amendment,” Gandapur said while talking to journalists at the Chief Minister’s House.

“There is no clarity on the civil disobedience plan yet. Imran Khan has announced it earlier but we have no such plan so far,” he insisted.

Ali Amin, who is also the PTI provincial president, said that tear gas had now become a perfume to PTI workers, saying they were mentally prepared for baton charge and tear gassing in D-Chowk in Islamabad, but they never expected the government would use live ammunition against them on November 26.

PTI Central Secretary Information Sheikh Waqas Akram also briefed the journalists about the recent events and the crackdown on them.

Regarding the worsening law and order in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and particularly the southern districts, including the native district of the chief minister, Ali Amin Gandapur said some of the people started making fun of him when he stated that the KP government would initiate peace talks with the Afghan government if the federal government didn’t show its seriousness.

“Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and its people have immensely suffered from terrorism. There are 16,000-18,000 militants on our side of the border and 24,000 plus Pakistani militants on the Afghan side of the frontier, and this issue is not going to be resolved until we talk to the Afghan government,” Gandapur explained.

Without mentioning the United States, he said the Afghan Taliban had defeated a superpower and being their next-door neighbour, Pakistan must start negotiations with them to get the issue of terrorism resolved. He said there was peace in the country during their government, accusing the Pakistan Democratic Movement government for the deteriorating law and order, claiming the government was now preoccupied with undermining the PTI instead of addressing core issues.

Gandapur said the federal government had now decided to begin talks with the Afghan government but they have not yet initiated the process. “The federal government and other provinces must be thankful to the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for their sacrifices. We are continuously suffering from militancy and terrorism but have stopped this menace within our boundaries and kept the terrorists away from other provinces,” Gandapur said.

He accused the federal government and police of killing innocent peaceful protesters in Islamabad. The chief minister claimed that “several” of their workers had been killed in Islamabad and the government was not returning their bodies.

“When I assumed office, law and order was dire. We are now prioritizing its improvement, police forces have been put on the frontline in some areas, and we are focusing on strengthening police and Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) operations in southern and merged districts,” he said.

Gandapur said that despite the challenges, their performance in KP was better than the other provinces, saying they achieved the IMF targets, with a 44 percent increase in revenue over the past nine months. To overcome the energy crisis and increase revenue, the chief minister said that they had decentralised power to improve governance and established the Awami Complaints Portal, resolving 67 percent of public grievances so far.

Meanwhile, PTI Secretary Information Sheikh Waqas Akram said the federal government was not cooperating with them since Ali Amin Gandapur took charge as the chief minister.

He said when there was the issue of peaceful march towards Islamabad and a sit-in at D-Chowk and at Sangjani, they opened the jail at 7am and requested Imran Khan to inform the party workers to delay the sit-in. This was because on the same day, an important case was going on in the Supreme Court regarding Ulema and a cricket match in Rawalpindi.

“Imran Khan instructed a delay, which we implemented. However, in return, instead of giving the NOC for the Sangjani sit-in, they registered 780 FIRs against us and our party workers. They fired at us and blocked all the roads to Sangjani using containers. Consequently, the party concluded that we should hold the protest in a peaceful manner at D-Chowk,” said the PTI leader.

“If they could not agree on such a small issue, how could we trust them with bigger ones.”

Sheikh said the federal government has lodged 40 cases against them in connection with the November 26 protest, 26 criminal cases against him alone.

He said Imran Khan formed a five-member committee for dialogue with the government, saying their doors were open for talks. “However, this approach doesn’t mean that we are not begging the government for talks. But it should not be considered as weakness of the party. It is an effort by Imran Khan to resolve matters before it becomes worse for all of us,” Sheikh Waqas, maintained.

Asked about the ongoing trial of former spy chief, he said whatever was happening to Lt-Gen (R) Faiz Hamid was an issue related to the internal mechanism of the military. “As far as political interference is concerned, it should be clarified that we have nothing to do with it. Imran Khan also stated that Lt-Gen Faiz Hamid was subordinate to Gen Bajwa and took all instructions from him. We deny all such allegations made by the government,” he said.

Regarding the alleged harassment of Pakhtuns in Islamabad and other cities following the November 26 protest, he said Ali Amin Gandapur had written a letter to the prime minister to form a committee about the incident at the D-Chowk with PTI workers.

“Our party workers feel more comfortable in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa compared to other provinces, where they are pressured in various ways. Our Pakhtuns are the real fighters for democracy and our rights. We are not going to take up arms or engage in actions like those seen in Bangladesh or other countries. However, when peaceful protests are not allowed, and youngsters are being shot at and party members tortured, such incidents lead to consequences like those seen in other countries. Our people did not have arms at that time in D-Chowk yet they were tortured. How long can they remain calm?” Sheikh Waqas asked.

“We are demanding the formation of a high-powered commission to probe into all that happened on May 9. We also demand CCTV footage of the entire day and of all locations, which has been deleted. PTI is the guardian of true democracy. However, the current government, installed through a stolen mandate, consists of individuals who are either from corrupt families or have criminal records,” he added.

Later, speaking at a gathering arranged in Hayatabad for the fallen party workers, Gandapur said those PTI workers who died in Islamabad had offered sacrifices to attain real freedom. He said sacrifices for real freedom would continue.

The chief minister said the PTI leaders would continue to question the firing on protesters. The PTI leaders and workers offered Quran Khwani for the party workers who had lost their lives in the firing. Special dua was offered for the deceased party workers.

Meanwhile, former minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Ali Muhammad Khan Sunday said that the civil disobedience movement was not being started from today (Monday).

Speaking in Geo News programme ‘Naya Pakistan’, he explained that tomorrow is the anniversary of the Army Public School (APS) Peshawar tragedy and the fall of Dhaka. Therefore, he added that the civil disobedience movement was not being started from tomorrow. The party leaders will meet the founding chairman Monday, he said.

He maintained that instructions given by the founding chairman PTI on the issue of civil disobedience will be followed wholeheartedly.

Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar Sunday claimed that KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur does not have the courage to give the next call for protest. The minister maintained he (CM) cannot do anything, as he is politically and administratively unsuccessful.

He said, “You never gave a peaceful call, if you had given a call for a peaceful protest, you would not have attacked Islamabad with Kalashnikovs, sten guns, grenades, teargas and rifles.” Talking to the media here, Tarar noted that Gandapur made some allegations on Saturday. He said that it was very important to inform the public about the misleading briefing being given to the foreign media and their mischief and anti-nationalism should also be exposed. He said that threats, intimidation and accusations are the behaviour of PTI and its leader. Ali Amin said that this time protest will not be peaceful but the question is which PTI protest was peaceful. The minister alleged that the anti-national group of PTI social media sitting outside the country had links with Indian Major Gaurav Arya on digital media, which is being reposted and liked in their timeline and social media posts.

Tarar said that everyone knows that Major Gaurav Arya’s agenda is against the Pakistan Army; they are following him because they are also against the Pakistan Army. He contended that PTI is against the integrity of the country, otherwise it would not have carried out the May 9 attacks.

Speaking to the media here, the minister said that Bushra’s workers pelted stones at him (Gandapur) on November 26, he ran and the footage of his guards opening fire has come out. The whole world has seen that people abused him, threw bottles and pelted stones at vehicles.

Tarar claimed that there are reports that Bushra Bibi was giving instructions from inside the vehicle saying, “We have to go to D-Chowk and spoil the visit of president of Belarus and attack parliament.” But Gandapur was not going ahead, he said.

He said that Bushra Bibi pelted stones at the CM, threw bottles at him and abused him; videos also emerged in which the workers were abusing him and he was abusing the workers.

The minister also said that the foreign media was being given a misleading briefing by inviting them to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which is based on lies and has no relation to the facts.

Meanwhile, referring to the political unrest in the backdrop of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) civil disobedience threat and back-to-back marches on Islamabad, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said he did not think that “meaningful negotiations” with the former ruling party could be initiated under these circumstances.

Talking to Geo News in Sialkot on Sunday, the defence minister accused the embattled Imran Khan-founded party of creating an “unfavourable” situation for the reconciliation process.

Responding to a question, the minister said that he did not know about the talks with the former ruling party, adding that statements about talks were coming from the former ruling party.

No statement about negotiations with the PTI came from the treasury benches, he added.

The minister further said that the PTI leadership was not on the same page on various matters.

Meanwhile, Rana Sanaullah, Adviser to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, criticised the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) provincial government, accusing it of launching three separate “attacks” on Islamabad.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of Rescue 1122, Aminpur Bangla Station, Sanaullah addressed the PTI leadership’s alleged failures and propaganda. He remarked that Bushra Bibi, while heading towards Islamabad, claimed that “Pashtuns are honourable and loyal,” but once they reached D-Chowk, while the Pashtuns stood firm, Bushra Bibi and Ali Amin Gandapur fled. “Now they are spreading propaganda about dead bodies,” he added.

Referring to the past events, Sana stated, “They came armed and wearing shrouds. Ali Amin Gandapur said to prepare for his funeral but later admitted he had run away. Next time they will flee even faster.”

The adviser highlighted the development work carried out by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN), claiming it to be evident across the country. He criticized the political culture introduced after 2017, stating, “A toxic political environment was fostered, teaching the youth to hurl abuses at political opponents. After 2018, conspiracies led to a decline in the country’s standing, moving us from the 23rd to the 47th position globally.”

Sanaullah also accused PTI leaders of using social media for propaganda. “They are circulating old footages and videos from Palestine to create fake narratives about dead bodies in Islamabad.” He added that social media had exposed their false claims, tarnishing their reputation.

Commenting on Maryam Nawaz’s approach to politics, he said the chief minister has introduced a new direction, focusing on providing relief to the common man. He also addressed the registration of religious seminaries, appreciating Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s input and assuring that the issue would be resolved in parliament without JUIF resorting to protests. Sanaullah concluded by saying, “If the PTI leadership had stayed at D-Chowk, people might have stood with them. However, their retreat exposed their weakness as even their own people attacked their vehicles.”