A file photo of PTI chief Imran Khan. PHOTO: REUTERS
“I don’t understand what the point of the protests were ... I am just a chief of a party and Pervaiz Khattak is the chief minister of the province, but the school is run by the army,” said Imran.
The PTI chief went on to add that he was caught off guard with protest since he only visited the school to stand with the parents and to increase the morale of the students.
“If I have come here to increase the morale of the parents then what kind of a protest can be there against us?” Imran questioned.
Further, Imran said if the parents' anger is emanating from the lack of security at schools then he should not be held responsible. "There were over 65,000 schools in K-P and police could not possibly provide security to all of them," he added.
Imran also clarified that he initially got off his car to pacify protesters. “But I saw some people who did not look like parents, they responded with political comments so I sat back in my car.”
Earlier, the PTI chief said horrific attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar was an attempt to scare children from going to school.
He defended the protests by the mourning parents of the APS victims, saying that he respects their sentiments, but at the same time, he was asked to visit the school today.
“I wanted to come earlier but was asked to postpone my visit,” the PTI chief said.
Imran said the purpose of today’s visit was to express solidarity with the bereaved families.
"I am thankful for such a great welcome, the morale of the students was high," he said.
"Without education, the country cannot progress," he added.
"It is essential for all political leaders to stand with the school. We will not let education be affected in our country at any cost, it is part of religion."
"I am upset that there were parents outside [the school] who were protesting," the PTI chief said.
"I am upset there was an image that people did not want us there," the PTI chief added.
COMMENTS (75)
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@Rahim, sir not disagreeing with anything you say in principle, except only IK has come out more uncivilized than anyone else on the podium, he has used foul language and bad mouthed all the politicians in his speeches and dharnas. Actually everyone else has either not responded, or never use bad language towards him. At least I expected the opposite from an 'Oxford' educated person, to be more civilized if not anything else.
Imran Khan sure picked up a great time to get married. Fully realizing that the media will eat it up. In the fitness of the things he should have waited. I mean he was already 10 years single. Another few months wouldn't have mattered. I believe that this has hurt his credibility as a visionary. He has been in an amazingly powerful position. However, he has somewhat jeopardized that.
Naya Pakistan...just the same as Purana Pakistan +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ PK more entertaining than IK:).
Imran Khan, I hope you are reading these comments here. Your dharna's are over. We don't want your agitation based politics. Wait for your turn in 2018, but you can forget "ME" casting vote in your favor.
I thought "Imm the Dim" wanted to open Taliban offices all over Pakistan and supported them? Am I misstating that or missing something?
The fact that he was bewildered........shows his lack of understanding of the people. All that the people wanted from him was a show of GENUINE compassion........and even that was not spontaneously forthcoming......it had to be dragged out of him. When you profess to be a leader of the people......Imran Khan you first have to understand the people......and you refuse to learn.
His point is logical. That clearly shows his opponents or whoever was behind this, are too much afraid of his fame among the people.
@Dr. Khalid: Shame on you, and shame on your leader.
@Asad: @khan Mr Khan's visit was well received by the majority of the students and from what I observed they responded very positively to his encouragement. At the same precise moment a dubious press conference was being televised by the government's information minister maligning Mr Khan's attendance at APS, NEED ONE SAY MORE.
The very person who blamed BB for her own murder at the hands of the terrorists in an article published in the western media. Were we expecting something different from him this time?
He is once again falling over backwards to avoid responsibility for anything.
People who created talibans army, ppp (benazir accepted that) , nawaz sharif , religious parties , are now enjoying that people are criticizing ik bcz he preferred dialogues over war , even AH asked for dialogues with Taliban before elections , no one says a word
If it was because he was a Taliban apologist , why no one protested against sirajulhaq during his visit 2) school was in cantt area , which comes under army 3) if the Kpk gov have ful control on that school and cantt area. Who was army chief to stop IK visit on first day 4) there can be people (parents) against ik so what , not everyone is IK's supporter
5)his marriage was simple , u can find examples of marriages even during Karbala , so that shd nt be an issue 6) yeah protocol is an issue to criticize 7) ik visited the school and injured ones on 17th dec I guess 8)ZARDARI , SHARIFS , FAZLU, none of them have visited school yet ,and no one is saying a word , and criticizing those who visited
Very strange 'perplexation' when incidents of violence occured in other provinces he demanded resignation of CM to everyone, without assigning any responsibilty, why the change when it is his own province?
Parents are frustrated by politics and wanted to take out their anger on someone. IK was a prime target because of his party's province where he told he had no power in school running but the main reason of anger was his marriage.
Both protesters and IK were in some fault here. IK should have waited some more for marriage as some parents are still filled with sorrow. And those parents also need to understand that while their loss is one of the biggest in their life, rest of people cant stop living or going by their daily life.
People has the right to protest and they should keep the politician's feet to the fire. But at the same time the protesters should have given him the chance to explain his position, and IK should have make himself accountable with the rest of those incompetent outfits in the province and the country who were responsible for the safety of those children. It seems to me that every one failed us whether it was Army, provincial police, K-P government and above all the intelligence services. What bothers me the most is that knowing fully well that Army has gone to North Waziristan to clear up the area from these terrorists and the terrorists were going to take revenge on the Army, but no one was smart enough to see the soft targets which could be hit. Schools has been hit regularly in K-P and yet there was not enough security detail at the school. Who to blame for this incompetence, we will never know because it is not in our genetic make up to come forward and take the responsibility. No one took the responsibility and no one resigned from their cushy jobs. If some political parties are to gain some political points out of this tragedy are encouraging the aggrieved parents to protest against PTI, then it is uncalled for and they should be reprimanded for doing so. Most likely parents are angry and looking for answers and no one is coming forward to take responsibility for that massacre of those innocent children. It also reminds me the massacre which took place at Model Town Lahore, no one took the responsibility for that massacre either. As former US President Truman once said that "the buck stops here", I ask the prime minister where does the buck stops in both of these massacres.
@Ch. Allah Daad: Spoken like a gentleman and a scholar.!
@Jan: I am shocked at this statement of imran. He is openly saying he cant take care of 65000 schools. What r u hee for uncle ,just to give dharnas n put others life on line. Imran uncle pack your bags and take the exit dooooor. And the masoomiyat with which he is saying i dont understand why parnts are upset ,us pay meri billi qurban jaey
Then in naya Pakistan he should resign for someone who can becuase this excuse is something out of the old Pakistan@Jan:
Actually Nawaz seems to do the right thing this once and is not tryingbto gain political points fron sone thing is only very sad @salman:
Everybody dose not want to rule the counrty IK so your comment is nonsensical, if he wanted to be private he should not have become a public figure @Raghu:
Sometime it is better to remain silent than giving stupid excuses.
@Chachoo - Whether Imran Khan has a residence in KP is secondary... Imran Khan has is share of mistakes - not outrightly condemning Taliban is one of them...
However the army has blundered vastly more than Imran Khan, but we didn't we see this anger against Raheel Sharif? Blaming and scapegoating civilians is the easy way out.
Unless the root cause (army calling the shots and deciding policy) is fixed, there's no point in blaming the politicians..
IK makes everything personal a world affair. His past life, his first marriage and conversion to Islam, then foreign tabloids announcing his second marriage at the time of our greatest national tragedy. His sister making it a public drama by denying the news and then IK finally going through the motions of Nikah and having a Valima in public yet criticizing all for making his personal life public! IK’s position regarding the fanatic terrorists has been questionable from the beginning. Mushy called his Talib without a beard, or Taliban Khan. His stand against the army action in the past is well known and the support TTP provided him in last elections is documented. In his “I never made any mistakes” attitude IK forgot the fury of those who have lost their children to the terror. The long motorcade of this non VIP leader and his softness toward the terrorists ignited the ire of grief stricken parents. IK has been living in a rich western bubble or container and it is not surprising that he cannot relate with common Pakistani parents.
@Hobi Haripur wala - "Coming from a Bharati that is….rich.!!"
Who else other than a Bharati would be in a better position to comment on this absurd behavior? In our country (and other mature democracies) the army is subservient to the civilian authorities. Except in your country, where it will go at any lengths to retain its control. That would mean funding renegade politicians (refer confessions of your ex-army chief Mirza Aslam Beg), torpedoing popular politicians, grabbing power or starting an outright war with neighbours ( 1965, Kargil etc.)
It definitely was a politicaly motivated protest by his opponents in KP!
Taliban apologist is getting exposed. Pakistan announces Zarb-e-Azb, he announces agitation. Pakistan amends constitution with 21st amendment, Imran back on roads. What and who's purpose he is serving? Parents of Childern suffered because of his dharnas and attention grabbing tactics, CM KPK dancing in Islamabad, and no one looking after KPK. Imran's even said, he had not send Army in Tribal areas had he been the PM. Who's benefit it would have been? People loved him but he has exposed himself badly. Kudos to parents of Childern for calling spade a spade. Sharam karo Imran Khan. Your lust for power ruined many families.
@goggi (Lahore): wtf man..!!
IK haters yesterday: "Why isn't IK visiting APS ?!?"
IK haters today: "Why did IK visit APS ?!?"
@Milind: So if it is the job of army to provide security let army run the country. Imran can sit and watch. What is the government there for? bribery? or corruption? oh wait dharna? or hmm lets see buying hotels in UK or building castles in raiwind.. WAKE up people it is the responsibility of government to provide security, health, food, jobs to its public. Imran is also all talks.. just like any other party.
My biggest grief before today would have been IK being an apologist for TTP crimes. However, today he made it a lot worse by washing his hands with the whole Peshawar episode, both as the head of the ruling party in KPK and more importantly as a national leader, by claiming he doesn't understand the purpose of the protest and APS is army's responsibility.
Why is he confused doesn't he know that the parents have lost their offsprings?. While he was holding dance parties along with his ministers the administration of the province was left to second layer and even third layer leaders. The incidence could have happened anywhere but its the response that shocks people. How did PTI respond to the incident that matters and now the people cannot be fooled.
@Asad: Stop trying to make sense of all protests, not all of them are IK's dharnas. With all due respect, had you been a parent of a martyr in the Peshawar attack, logic would mean nothing to you. Regards
There were over 65,000 schools in K-P and police could not possibly provide security to all of them. says IK. unfortunately IK even didnt read the constitution of Pakistan, which says this is the duty of state and government to secure all citizens of the country life and property.
The dude who vowed to die if NS did not resign is perplexed....how innocent of him.
@Raghu: When NS as much as thinks about a foreign visit IK criticizes him .
Till date i thought KPK Govt./Fed Govt. is responsible for the Safety of it's citizen .....Now Can Mr. Khan elaborate who is running the KPK Govt. ...whom should we ask this questions ...Isn't Army public schools situated in the limits of Thana cantt Peshawar of KPK police...Didn't the terrorist used KPK roads to reach the school......
@Asad: The federal govt asked IK to party in islamabad and lahore. The federal govt asked IK to not go to his province for 120 days. The federal govt asked the CM of KPK to dance on the container. The federal govt asked IK to get married after the Peshawar incident.
@goggi (Lahore): What kind of rubbish is this.
@Milind: Ah so sweet. So now the PTI folks are blaming Pakistan Army for the mishaps. So sweet of you. I just want to remind you that Imran Khan dont have a single residence in KP and interestingly he is running KP. Do you know Imran Khan visits KP from Punjab and Islamabad during the day only and he dont stay at night in KP?. Imran Khan is telling everyone to bring investment in KP but he is not bothering to have a single house in the same province he is trying to govern? Ultimate Irony.
Imran should not take it personally, as this anger, rightly so, was directed against all those who were given the responsibility to save guard the citizens of Pakistan. You being a politicians were also in slumber till it was too late.
Why Nawaz Sharif is so sacred to visit the school ? I bet he will be even shown the door right at the Peshawar airport.
PTI fanboys please come up with new excuses. I love reading them.
His support of Taliban has shown him this day. The people of Pakistan are fed up with his double standards. He supports murderers and sympathises with victims. However I feel sorry for Reham Khan who should have been treated better.
Problem is your and incumbent PM dirty politics! While you didnt voted for 21st amendment making you stand with the barbarians who carried out 16/12 while While as our esteemed Prime Minister and dont have the courage to condemn these barbarians by name! Shame on you!
All he wanted was to parade around his trophy wife, stir a media spectacle into showing that the grieving parents of those slaughtered souls were at hand at APS with garlands and as soon as the Royal Prince & Princess stepped off from their Victoria carriage - those crying parents would go wild and a crescendo of celebrations would break loose.....
Was that too much to ask? Asks IK.
What a complete idiot this man is !!!!!!!!
@Milind: Coming from a Bharati that is....rich.!! Heard Suhaga Singh lately.??
Now IK is facing the music...
Thats genius. The events of yesterday must have been playing on his mind.
The Pakistani army will leave no stone unturned to humiliate & discredit Pakistani politicians or civilians... We saw them sabotage the judiciary (by not providing enough security) and then appear as heroes in shining armor by trying and hanging the culprits through military courts.
This modus operandi seems to be repeated when the army chief debarred IK from visiting IPS, himself visited it first and then sabotaged IK's visit.
APS, as the name suggest is also for the common children. Either the army should take out this confusion of mixing army and public and ran separate school for army, or provide complete security to the APS schools all over the country.
Be more sensitive, don't play defence Imran.
@goggi (Lahore): We should ban all weddings for 40 days after any suicide bomb takes place. Every body will be happy then. However, no one will get married then coz of too many suicide attacks. What dumb logic you have googi.
It was the patwaris of Punjab and noora leaguers whose kids were martyred on dec 16th. And today it was those people who were talking against IK. As "chachoo" said, our beloved IK is an angel, he can do no wrong. Angels don't do wrong.
PS: dont' dare naming Iblees here.
long live IK.......
What Imran Khan does not seem to understand is that he has always defended the Taliban's . He has always sided with the religious extremists. He is also one of the author of "good Taliban and bad Taliban". Imran Khan will always bow down to the pressure of religious extremist in denouncing other sects or religion. Imran Khan has no guts. He should take a lesson from Jibran Nasir of how to stand up for the rights f all Pakistanis. Unfortunately he does not understand any of this. As he believes that he is the best person to lead Pakistan and he can do no wrong. Let me tell Imran Khan that young leaders like Jibran Nasir will over take him soon. We need a Naya Pakistan with new thoughts not oldies with primitive medieval thoughts !!!
The anger of parents is justified. I have been through what they are feeling. Yes IK should be more vocal. After all he is trying to change Pakistan and wants to be the peoples leader. But saying he should have not got married soon after the PSH incident is not fair to the man. For instance, if a death in a family occurs a few days or weeks before a marriage ceremony, the marriage is postponed. Instead it is done in the simplest manner possible. We all have directly or indirectly witnessed such a marriage. This is exactly what imran khan has done. We shouldn't expect him to postpone his marriage, it is his personal affair. I think the media should not have highlighted his marriage like a bollywood movie. He clearly was not looking for so much attention. Mature up Pakistan.. get behind this man.. he might just save us from our miseries... ET for Gods sake let this comment of mine through...
I don’t understand what the point of the protests were … I am just a chief of a (ruling party in KPK) party and Pervaiz Khattak is the chief minister of the province (the capital of which is Peshawar), but the school is run by the army
What a pathetic excuse !
some people already saying that the protests were staged by PMLN people,
get a grip on reality people, Children are dead, parents have every right to be angry, stop trying to play politics on everything, he failed to understand the point of the protests lol, we have been saying the same thing for the dharnas that he and his followers have been holding
btw not a noonie, but a proud Karachiite, and no not an MQM supporter either
Imran Khan is an idiot, he is self declared dictator of PTI..control everything ..plus he is taliban apologist..for what he went to APS? look your kids got killed by taliban and i have got new wife .
Oh now he will criticize the parents of the slain students ? The security of the whole of KPK comes under the PTI provincial government. Moreover 'Law & Order' is a provincial subject.
He along with his supporters and the whole of the KPK cabinet were busy dancing on the container in Islamabad; instead of caring for the citizens of the state.
He is perplexed ? No wonder he is known as "Imm the Dim".
He is a confused guy..... which is reflected in his statements... How Cute, He does not know Parents of the dead kids were protesting for.....
Ch. Allah Dad are you there? Need to clarify this strange behavior of Namaloom Khan.
He was upset that the parents were protesting. That there was an image that people did not want him there.
Imran just imagine if a political leader especially one from Shia faith would marry in the month of Muharram and simultaneously want to attend a majlis!
Imran is absolutely right. He is an Angel and he can never commit any mistake. Also it is not his responsibility to take care of the petty works in KP. Imran Khan we love you. You are the greatest leader Pakistan have and can ever produced. You are a demigod, a messiah, a savior and also we can share your pics on Facebook and Twitter and what more we need in this world.
Our nation can,t be united... French attack all nation and victims family united with their leaders
Had this been Punjab , IK would not waste a second blaming everything on PMLN but now that its his own province so he is shifting his responsibilities.
Protest against Imran for this issue seems illogical, he played his role but government at federal level is a big failure. Its better PTI quits provincial government and let PMLN run the provice for better coordination because PMLN is making sure PTI government doesn't work at any cost.
Dirty politics. Makes everything vague. His point of 'seeing people who did not look like parents and resorting to political chants' is valid. Yet I know at least one guy in that crowd who was a parent.
politicians are not welcome but Army is very welcome :-)