Choking Nato supplies: PTI, coalition reschedule protest in view of security

Imran says the sit-in against CIA-led drone strikes will now be staged on November 23 instead of November 20.

PESHAWAR:

In view of the prevailing security situation in the country, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan has deferred his party’s plan to choke Nato supply line in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) for a couple of days.

“This is not a cancellation but a postponement in response to the sensitivities of our people and the acute security situation prevailing in the country,” Imran said in a statement issued to the media.

He said now the protest against CIA-led drone strikes would be staged on November 23 instead of November 20.



Earlier on Sunday, the coalition partners in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) – Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) and Awami Jamhoori Ittehad Pakistan (AJIP) – had a meeting in which they decided to postpone their announced sit-in on Nato supply routes due to Rawalpindi violence.

After the drone strike that killed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Hakimullah Mesud and sabotaged the fledgling peace initiative with militants, the three parties had decided to block the Nato supply route from Peshawar to Torkham.

JI’s Provincial Secretary-General Shabbir Ahmad, at a press conference at Markaz-e-Islami, said leaders of the three parties had agreed that due to the recent violence in Rawalpindi, they had postponed the protest against Nato supply.



“This is not a cancellation but a temporary postponement in response to the sensitivity of the violence that has erupted in different parts of the country and the acute security situation,” he said, adding that they had decided that within the next 24 hours they would finalise a fresh protest date.

He said during the meeting the tripartite alliance formed a nine-member governing body –  with leaders from the three parties – to meet and invite other political parties in the centre and province to also take part in the protest against the Nato supply.

“It’s not just our problem, but that of the entire nation and the political setup, and it needs to be discussed,” he added.

Lashing out at Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Imran Khan said the entire nation was expecting that the PM would discuss the drone issue with US President Barack Obama. “However, the nation was disappointed when the prime minister left aside such an important problem and discussed the least important matters,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 18^th, 2013.