Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The government on Tuesday launched a probe after former premier Imran Khan loose-talked about PTI’s “azadi marchers” being armed to the teeth to face the riot forces in federal capital.
Alarmed by PTI leader’s disturbing argument, the federal cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, immediately set up a committee to investigate the alleged anti-state activities by PTI.
Khan on Monday said he called off the long march because there were chances of ‘bloodshed’ as some of his angry protesters were also bearing firearms to deal with the state-ordered brutalities of the riot police deployed to crush the march.
The five-member committee including Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and Adviser on Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit Baltistan Qamar Zaman Kaira will get to the bottom of the matter and report to the cabinet.
The Prime Minister also directed the Interior Ministry and the law enforcement agencies not to carry any weapon at the venue of the long march.
The meeting was informed that PTI utilised the resources of the Khyber Pukhtunkhwa government to gather armed groups in the KP House a day ahead of the long march.
Also, the Chief Minister of Gilgit Baltistan attacked the police personnel.
The cabinet also seriously took the statement of Chief Minister KP Mahmood Khan who said to attack the state and the federal capital with full force.
In his Monday’s interview with a private television channel, the former prime minister clearly said some, not all, the participants of the long march had pistols on them.
“There was already hatred among the people due to raids carried out by the Punjab Police on PTI lawmakers houses a day before the march,” said Khan, adding that “he was one hundred percent sure that the situation would lead to chaos”.
“The decision to continue with the march would have led to hatred against the police and the army and would have created further divisions in the country.”
“We want to file a petition that whether the peaceful protest is their right or not. It will be the test of the Supreme Court whetherit removes our reservations or not,” The PTI chairman said.
He said that the PTI would form two different strategies for the long march after the SC ruling. “We had started receiving the videos and the situation at D Chowk was not normal. Fearing bloodshed, I decided not to move ahead. However, we will come with full preparation this time,” he maintained.
During the cabinet meeting, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said the protest lodged by the PTI was “not a political activity but a conspiracy against the state’ and assured the cabinet anti-state actions will be dealt with an ‘iron hand’.
Khan, who was booted out Prime Minister’s by an alliance of opposition parties in a no-confidence vote last month, may face arrest for the alleged anti-state activities, if the government builds a watertight case against him.
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