Peshawar: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan announced that his party's long protest march to Islamabad will begin on May 25 demanding the dissolution of the National Assembly and a date for the next general election and invited people to join in large numbers. Speaking at a press conference on Sunday after his party's core committee meeting in Peshawar, Imran Khan said that he will meet the people on the Srinagar highway on May 25 and asked them to join him at 3 pm.
"Today we held our core committee meeting and made important decisions, the biggest question was when to begin the long march, and we have decided. On the 25th of May, I will meet you in Islamabad on the Srinagar Highway. You have to reach there at 3 pm," The Dawn quoted Khan as saying.
Before announcing the date for the march, the PTI chairman explained his allegations of conspiracy as well as the purpose of his march. "I want people from all walks of life to come because this is Jihad and not politics. I invite all the women because I've seen your anger. I had never seen that before. I have decided and told all my team that we have to be ready to sacrifice our lives," he said, The Dawn reported.
Speaking of the purpose of the march, Imran Khan, who was ousted as the Prime Minister of Pakistan following a no-confidence vote in April, noted that it would convert into a sit-in and continue until his demands are accepted. "We will never under any situation accept them. No matter how long we have to remain in Islamabad we will remain there," he said adding, "The march would have two primary demands: dissolution of assemblies and a date for elections."
Khan demanded a free and fair election in the country and said that he would accept it if the nation would bring the current government back into power but no country from outside will be allowed to impose them on us. Referring to the present PM Shehbaz government, Imran said, "I want to give a little background of how we reached here. There was a foreign conspiracy against Pakistan from the US. In this regime change, they used locals -- the most corrupt people, who were ready to become part of any conspiracy to save their corruption," The Dawn reported.
"This conspiracy was hatched eight months ago and I was alerted about it in June, and after August, I fully understood what was happening. We did our best that somehow this conspiracy could be voided but unfortunately, we couldn't stop it." The former PM said that the government will try various ways to stop the march, asking his supporters to prepare beforehand for factors such as communication, transport, and fuel." He also asked the military to stick to its stated stance of being neutral. "I also say to my army that you said you are neutral so now remain neutral," he said, adding, however, I want to invite everyone to the march, including the families of civil servants, army personnel, and ex-servicemen," The Dawn reported. Khan emphasised that the party had always remained peaceful in its protests, and the same will be true for the upcoming march and warned that the party would take legal action against any wrong action taken against the peaceful protest march.—ANI