PTI calls off Islamabad lockdown; to have thanksgiving instead

BY SHAH NAWAZ MOHAL AND FARID SABRI

• Supreme Court’s intervention allows IK to have a respectable face-saving as he converts lockdown into thanksgiving rally

Pivoting from protest to peaceful celebration, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Tuesday said its November 2 lockdown will instead be marked as a “day of thanksgiving” in Islamabad after the Supreme Court decided to pursue the Panama leaks case linked to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

In his address at his Bani Gala residence, PTI chief Imran Khan asked party workers to go home and reach Parade Ground on Wednesday (today) at 2:00 PM where Youm-e-Tashakur (day of thanksgiving) would be celebrated.

“We will gather one million people in Parade Ground tomorrow (Wednesday),” Khan said.

Khan stated that the protest had been called off as the Supreme Court had started hearing of petitions seeking disqualification of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the wake of Panama Papers leaks.

The PTI chief also lauded the Supreme Court for calling a reply from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on November 3 over the matter. “I am elated that the investigation into Nawaz Sharif’s alleged corruption will begin day after tomorrow,” Khan said.

The PTI chief appreciated Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak for his resilience and those who reached his place despite difficulties.

Khan also demanded that containers be removed from in and around his home or else his workers would forcibly throw them away.

Khan said his party had two conditions ie, firstly he resigned and secondly he allowed a probe into the Panama Papers leaks.

“We tried to get justice from parliament, but our efforts drew a blank. The NAB, FIA also denied us justice and then we thought of going to the people of Pakistan,” he went on to say.

The PTI chief said the PTI had been struggling for the past seven months to get the Panama Papers issue investigated.

Continuing his diatribe, Khan said Nawaz Sharif had harmed the progress of Pakistan through corruption.

Earlier in the day, PTI Secretary Information Andleeb Abbas and nine other workers were arrested. Later on, Andleeb Abbas was released but the nine workers were not. They would be presented before a magistrate today.

Both the Islamabad High Court and Lahore High Court ruled against the ‘lockdown’ of capital.

Analysts believe that Khan has managed to secure a much-needed face-saving from the Supreme Court’s ruling.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been under growing pressure from opposition parties, mainly PTI, which had vowed one million supporters would shut down Islamabad on Wednesday as part of long-running efforts to force the government out of power.

PTI had announced that it will ‘lockdown’ Islamabad on November 2 to pressurize the prime minister to hold himself accountable for alleged offshore accounts owned by his family named in the Panama Papers.

The Islamabad High Court in its decision last week asked the PTI to keep the sit-in at a designated area and not block state machinery. However, the PTI remained adamant over staging the sit-in.

Other parties including the Pakistan People’s Party which initially formed joint opposition with the PTI had asked it to wait for the Supreme Court hearing.