Photo courtesy PID
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Friday urged the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to postpone its Rawalpindi rally—scheduled for today (Saturday)—noting that intelligence agencies have warned of a persistent terror threat.
“Intelligence agencies have issued a red alert about the rally and informed the government that any terrorist or terrorist group can take advantage of the situation,” he said, adding that PTI Chairman Imran Khan had direct threats to his life. Recalling that the government had already sent a terror advisory to PTI Senior Vice-President Asad Umar explaining the nature of threats to Khan and the rally, he said the former minister could verify these threats by meeting representatives of intelligence agencies.
Later, the interior minister announced on Twitter that his ministry had “officially” issued an advisory regarding a potential threat to PTI’s rally. “Imran Khan should postpone his plan as any anti-state element can seize this opportunity to spread anarchy in the country,” he added. Earlier this week, the Interior Ministry had issued a similar advisory, warning of threats from militant groups and “radicalized youth” of the Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP).
In his press conference, Sanaullah said he had also instructed the Punjab chief secretary and inspector general of police to guard the venue of the rally from all sides and bar anyone from entering without a full body search.
Political negotiations
The interior minister also reiterated the ruling coalition’s calls for Khan to hold talks with his political rivals if he wished to secure a date for early elections. Describing the rally as “pointless,” he said it would not yield the results Khan wanted. “You will not get an early election date from Rawalpindi,” he said, referring to General Headquarters. “The establishment as an institution stands by its decision that it will confine itself to its constitutional role and will not step out of it,” he said, adding that the only path was negotiations, as decisions could change when politicians sat down for talks.
Offering his “personal guarantee” that the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) would not refuse any offer of talks from Khan, he asked the PTI chief to return to Parliament and behave like a politician. “Have mercy on the nation and leave your stubbornness so that the country can move forward,” he stressed. “Otherwise you will be responsible for the price hike and political instability,” he added.
Long march finally ends
The interior ministry’s warning comes as the PTI’s stuttering long march finally comes to a close after having altered its destination from Islamabad to Rawalpindi and taking a month to traverse just 360km. In a video statement, the party chairman appealed to his supporters to gather in the garrison city, as he would lead them despite recovering from a gunshot wound.
Khan has reversed several stances during the long march, saying he has “moved past” his widely-debunked “foreign regime change” conspiracy, and also no longer holds the security establishment responsible for his ouster as prime minister. However, he has maintained his demand for early elections, claiming this is the only way to achieve stability and economic prosperity.
Earlier, to repeated calls for talks with the government, he said he was not amenable to dialogue unless the starting point was early elections—compared to the ruling coalition demanding talks without any preconditions.