November 30 rally: PTI recruiting terrorists to stoke violence, says Rashid
Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid claimed on Sunday that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has started ‘outsourcing terrorists’ to create unrest ahead of its November 30 rally in Islamabad.
Addressing reporters at the Press Information Department (PID), the information minister accused PTI chief Imran Khan of stoking violence across the country.
Rashid claimed to have received ‘credible’ information that the PTI has been hiring insurgents in a bid to create mayhem in the capital on November 30.
In a veiled warning, the minister said, “Imran will be directly responsible for any untoward incidents that might occur on that day.”
He said that the PTI chief should hand over party workers to the police who attacked the PTV headquarters on the directives of the party chief. Imran Khan, he added, has been inciting people to violence through his speeches since August 14.
Rashid urged the PTI leader to adopt parliamentary politics to achieve his goals and quit ‘politics of provocation’.
Commenting on the upcoming PTI rally, the minister alleged that the party has been outsourcing terrorists trained in handling weapons, wooden clubs and cranes to wreak havoc in the capital.
Spelling out government’s strategy regarding the rally, the minister vowed strict actions against those who resort to violence.
“If it remains peaceful, the government will do nothing but if there is provocation of violence, the law will take its due course,” he warned.
After all the blistering remarks about the PTI, the minister, in a rather conciliatory tone went on to say that the government is still willing to hold talks with the party. He added that the government has accepted two demands made by the PTI chief, including the formation of a parliamentary panel on election reforms.
About the arrest warrants for PTI chief and cleric Tahirul Qadri over violence during the anti-government protests, the minister said that the government had nothing to do with it. He said the government did not want to arrest the PTI chief but warned that it would implement orders issued by the court.
Responding to a question about the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief, Rashid said that he has left Pakistan for the renewal of his Canadian passport which was about to expire. Heaping scorn on the PAT leader, he said that Qadri abandoned his workers for his Canadian citizenship.
Rashid ruled out Imran’s claim that he was sleeping when Pakistan Television headquarters in the federal capital was attacked, and went on to show clips of the PTI chief’s speeches to substantiate his claims.
Rashid said that both PTI and PAT leaders congratulated each other after the attack on PTV headquarters. Later Imran directed his ‘tigers’ (workers) to return back, he added.
The information minister also urged the PTI leader to let the people of Pakistan know if his party stands by the speech Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed delivered during PTI’s rally in Sahiwal, urging workers to set fire to state machinery on November 30.
Was Imran Khan sleeping when the AML leader made this statement or was he awake, the minister quipped.
On the Jehlum firing incident, he said the incident had nothing to do with PTI’s gathering, adding that it occurred on a different route and was far from the venue.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 17th, 2014.