Former Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has given the government a six-day deadline to dissolve assemblies and hold new elections as his party’s long marchers dispersed on Thursday morning.
Addressing protesters on Islamabad’s Jinnah Avenue, Imran Khan threatened to return to the federal capital with the “entire nation” if he did not.
“The government has used every trick to crush our Azadi March,” the PTI chief said. “They used teargas on peaceful protests, our homes were raided, and our privacy was violated, but I have seen the nation free itself from fear of slavery.”
Imran Khan said he arrived in Islamabad after a 30-hour journey from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Imran Khan and other top PTI leaders left the container shortly after the speech, while party workers were able to enter the Red Zone despite heavy security.
“I am giving a six-day ultimatum to the government to dissolve assemblies and announce general elections in June,” the former prime minister said, announcing the deadline to the government to announce the date for new polls. If the government fails to announce a date for elections, the PTI chief has threatened to return to Islamabad with millions of people.
Imran Khan stated that three PTI workers were killed in Karachi, while two others were thrown off the Ravi Bridge and thousands were arrested. He slammed the government for attempting to create a schism between the people and law enforcement.
Imran Khan stated that he had planned to stage a sit-in until the government dissolved assemblies and called elections, but after witnessing the “brutal crackdown” on the people in the last 24 hours, he changed his mind.
Addressing the Supreme Court judges once more, Imran Khan urged them to take note of the tactics used by the “imported government” to prevent the masses from exercising their right to protest. He stated that the apex court judges bore a great deal of responsibility and thanked them for taking notice of what occurred yesterday.
“My message to the imported government is to dissolve the assemblies and announce elections, or I will return to Islamabad in six days,” he said.
He went on to ask where in a democracy peaceful protests were not permitted, and demonstrators were subjected to tear gas shelling, police raids, and arrests.
The PTI chairman arrived in Islamabad early Thursday and marched towards D-Chowk.
Imran Khan returned to his Banigala residence after delivering his speech, while the PTI workers gathered on Jinnah Avenue began to disintegrate.
