RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan on Monday declared the protest call “final” after meeting party’s founder Imran Khan in Adiala Jail.
Barrister Gohar, along with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government spokesman Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, held an hour-and-a-half-long meeting with Imran Khan at Adiala Jail for consultation on the protest call in Islamabad.
Later, speaking informally to a journalist while travelling in his car, Barrister Gohar said “it is a final call. It will not be called off.”
The journalist asked about negotiations [with government], to which he said “we will tell you about it soon. Yes, they are going on.”
The PTI workers from all over the country on Nov 24 started journey towards capital Islamabad’s D-Chowk on the protest call given by Imran Khan. A PTI convoy left Swabi for Islamabad under the leadership of Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and Imran’s wife Bushra Bibi and is reportedly on the fringes of Islamabad.
BUSHRA BIBI LEADS CONVOY
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) main convoy from Peshawar, led by Bushra Bibi, wife of Imran Khan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, reached Hazro Interchange on Sunday night en route to Islamabad for protest.
The convoy reached Hasanabdal via Attock. When the convoy entered Punjab, police fired tear gas shells at the Attock Bridge, Chhich Interchange and Ghazi Barotha Canal.
Latest news emerges that Bushra Bibi leads a convoy in a container whereas Gandapur and Omar Ayub are staying put in Haripur. Bushra Bibi said she would lead from the front and would not return without Imran Khan’s release.
Police also fired tear gas at the participants of the convoy coming from Haripur, led by Opposition Leader in the National Asembly Omar Ayub, at Attock Bridge. The participants set fire to the greenbelt around it and a vehicle parked on Ghazi Bridge.
Later, police also fired tear gas when the convoy reached Taxila checkpost. But, police had to retreat due to the advance of the PTI workers.
The PTI convoy led by Taimur Masood from Taxila also joined Omar Ayub’s convoy at the checkpost.
Later, Gandapur and Bushra Bibi addressed the party workers and said the protest would continue till the release of Imran Khan.
Earlier on Sunday, the district administration sealed major routes to Islamabad. Key roads leading to the capital were blocked with containers, including Srinagar Highway at Zero Point and Expressway near Khanna Pul.
It may be recalled that police had earlier said that the road leading to Islamabad airport was open. But, later they denied access to the airport and Faizabad to Islamabad route was also cut off, leaving commuters stranded.
NO CONFLICT IN PTI
Earlier, Sheikh Waqas Akram denied the news of conflict between Gandapur and Bushra Bibi and confirmed that the former first lady was also part of the PTI protest convoy from Peshawar, and traveling by a separate vehicle.
In a post on social media website X, he wrote that the convoy, led by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, had already set off towards Islamabad.
He added that Bushra Bibi, travelling alongside party workers, could not leave workers alone at this crucial moment. “She emphasised that if the PTI expected families to join the workers in the protest, then Imran Khan’s family would be the first to lead by example,” said Akram.
