LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Friday launched his party’s long march to Islamabad, asserting that his march is not for politics but for a ‘Haqeeqi Azadi’ (true freedom).
The long march is seen as Khan’s attempt to force the sitting government to hold early elections, a long-standing demand of the PTI leader.
“The only objective and demand of this long march is free and fair elections in the country, which will guarantee a ‘true independence’ in Pakistan,” said the former prime minister while addressing a large number of participants after reaching Liberty Chowk here, the starting point of the march.
Senior party leaders Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Asad Umar, Fawad Chaudhry, Azam Swati, Shafqat Mahmood, Faisal Javed Khan, Sheikh Rasheed, Mian Mahmood-ur-Rasheed and Musarat Cheema, were Present.
Hundreds of PTI supporters joined the rally at the Liberty Chowk and later more people joined in as it progressed towards Shahdara.
PTI to begin ‘long march’ to Islamabad on Friday
Addressing the crowd, Imran Khan said that he was starting the most important journey in his political journey of 26 years. “The time has come for us to start the journey of a ‘real freedom’ of this country. My march is not for politics, not for elections or personal interests, but only for the purpose that the nation should be ‘truly free’, our decisions should not be in Washington or Britain, but Pakistan’s decisions should be made in Pakistan and for the people of Pakistan,” he added.
The PTI chairman said that he wanted to see a country where the people’s rights were protected and everyone was equal before the law. “At present, the people were facing numerous problems, including unprecedented inflation caused by this corrupt ‘imported’ government. Moreover, this corrupt government involved in Rs 1100 billion corruption was busy in ending their cases,” he added.
“If the ‘handlers’ of the corrupt government think that the people will accept this charade, then they are wrong; they will never accept these thieves at any cost,” he added.
While referring to PTI leader Azam Swati’s press conference, Khan commended Swati for showing courage by unveiling the names of the military officers allegedly responsible for his custodial torture.
“Azam Swati took the names of two persons, Faheem and Faisal. Ever since they came to the Capital, they have been manhandling people; the ‘Dirty Harry’ picked up Swati illegally, stripped him naked and then tortured him in front of his grandchildren,” Khan claimed, adding that Faisal and Faheem were also responsible for the torture on Shahbaz Gill and Jameel Farooqui. “The arrest of Swati brought embarrassment to Pakistan and the army was defamed,” he added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022