ISLAMABAD: The incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founding chairman, Imran Khan, on Friday, made it clear that he ordered the postponement of the public gathering scheduled on August 22 as “we feared chaos in the country”.
“Azam Swati informed him in jail that religious parties have planned to stage a protest against a decision of the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan in the Mubarak Sani case on August 22 and the Khatm-e-Nubuwwat is a sensitive matter, then we feared chaos due to which we postponed our public gathering”, he said while talking to reporters informally after hearing of the Al-Qadir Trust case at Adiala Jail.
He said that whenever you see unrest in Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) you should understand that they fear that PTI has started negotiations with the establishment.
PTI reschedules rally for Sept 8 after NOC cancellation, closure of roads
Khan said he did not talk to the government about the public gathering.
There might be chaos in the country, due to which, I decided to postpone the jalsa, he said, adding that now it was a matter of credibility of the judiciary.
Court allowed us to hold public gathering and the administration cancelled the no-objection certificate, he said. He claimed that all this is happening for the extension of Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa, two games are going on. He said if they failed to give an extension to the chief justice, then they would elevate someone from the Supreme Court which would affect seniority process. Both these conditions are unacceptable. If they did so then we would stage countrywide protests, he said.
The former premier also said that if they had held the August 22 public gathering they would have been blamed for another ‘May 9 melodrama’. So far, the judicial inquiry of the May 9 riots has yet not been conducted, he said.
When he was asked through whom he sent a message to Azam Swati last night (on the night of Thursday), and how did he get the phone facility, Khan smiled and said: “leave this issue”.
Khan said that he has asked his party leadership to hold a meeting before September 8 and decide when they will stage a protest if the Supreme Court judgment regarding reserved seats was not executed. He said that if the administration issues us a NOC and then try to stop us in future, then the government will be responsible for everything. I am asking the party not to tolerate any kind of hurdles on September 8, I have postponed the meeting in Islamabad for the last time, he said.
Earlier, the Accountability Court judge, Nasir Javed Rana, heard the £190 million National Crime Agency (NCA) scam commonly known as the Al-Qadir Trust case, and adjourned the proceedings of the case till August 26.
Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were present in the courtroom during the hearing. Khan’s counsels Usman Gull, Chaudhry Zaheer as well as NAB Deputy Prosecutor General Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi and special prosecutor Amjad Pervaiz appeared before the court.
During the hearing, Khan’s counsel partially cross-examined prosecution witness and investigation officer (IO) Mian Umer Nadeem.
The defence counsel will continue cross-examination of the witness during the next hearing.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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