Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Wednesday said that government would implement, in letter and spirit, a Lahore High Court's verdict with regard to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) 'Azadi march' and Pakistan Awami Tehreek's (PAT) 'Inqilab March' on August 14. He made it clear that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would not resign because of violent threats.
Speaking at a press conference, he said the government will implement Lahore High Court's verdict. Any political party that intends to carry out a protest rally will be required to submit an application to district administration. The administration would determine whether the activity falls within the purview of law and constitution, according to him.
He said the parties that want to carry out protests will also be required to provide guarantees that their gathering would be within the ambit of constitution and would not disturb life of ordinary people. Nisar made it clear that a democratically-elected prime minister of Pakistan would not step down only because of violent threats or violent protest demonstrations of a political party or group.
He said that the government would respect all kinds of political activities and protest demonstrations that were held within the constitutional ambit and that no one would be allowed to storm the capital to destabilise the government and paralyse life. The Interior Minister said that there was no such example in the world that any group could impose its demands through violence. "Neither this had happened in the past nor would it happen in future in Pakistan," he added. To a question, he said that army had nothing to do with PTI's 'Azadi' march and PAT's 'Inqilab' march.
Nisar said that PTI chief in the past had repeatedly demanded constitution of a three-member commission of Supreme Court (SC) to investigate the allegations of irregularities in May 11, 2013 general elections, but when the Prime Minister announced the constitution of a three-member SC commission, the PTI backtracked from its earlier stance. "We are ready to allow any institution to probe rigging allegations," Nisar said.
Interior Minister said that Pakistan has an independent judiciary and one of the most vigilant media in the developing countries; therefore, the government would not allow any group to decide Pakistan's fate on roads or ask an elected Prime Minister to step down through violent means.
Talking about PAT Chief Tahirul Qadri's statements, Nisar said that Tahirul Qadri was using children and women as human shield. He said that people who were openly challenging the law enforcement could not be allowed a free hand in the federal capital.
He said that Islamabad administration had written a letter to Imran Khan regarding his 'long march'. Nisar said that the government had in principle decided not to impede the democratic process. "We have no objection to PTI's 'Azadi March'," he said. However, it became difficult to allow any march when PTI and PAT decided to march jointly. He explained that it would become difficult for the government and the administration to distinguish between PTI and PAT workers. He said the government had to revisit its strategy because of a new situation that emerged following an agreement between PAT and PTI.
The Interior Minister said that there were serious security threats as per the reports of national and international security watchdogs. Nisar said that a suggestion about the appointment of Chief Election Commissioner was given to him by Imran Khan. He said that he had held a press conference against the then caretaker Chief Minister Punjab Najam Sethi before elections because of controversial transfers and postings. The caretaker government was formed by Pakistan People's Party (PPP), he claimed, he appreciated all political parties for playing positive role in 'saving democracy'. He especially praised Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) leaders for making a serious effort towards resolving the crisis. He said there were serious threats of violence on August 10 for which government had to take such measures.
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