Islamabad Protest: PTI should be dealt with as terrorists: Azma

PTI Protest in Islamabad: Azma Bokhari – the Punjab Minister for Information – said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf was not a political party and should be treated as a terrorist entity.

Following the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s insistence on holding a rally at Islamabad’s D-Chowk today despite Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s warning against it, Punjab Minister for Information Azma Bokhari on Friday said that the Interior Minister would not let the PTI supporters enter the federal capital.

Naqvi cautioned the PTI on Thursday not to organize the public meeting because the prime minister of Malaysia was among the foreign dignitaries scheduled to visit Islamabad. The Imran Khan-founded former ruling party is protesting for the “independence” of the judiciary and the release of the former prime minister from prison amid its anti-government campaign.

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The demonstration will take place in tandem with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) conference and the last day of the Malaysian prime minister’s visit to Pakistan. Section 144 and “the Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Act, 2024,” which prohibit public gatherings at specific locations in Islamabad, have already been put into effect by the government.

“The PTI’s top leadership ought to reconsider its demand for a demonstration. At a press conference alongside federal police officials, the security chief declared, “No one will be allowed for an onrush on Islamabad.” The PTI’s provincial communication minister, however, has always opposed Pakistan’s advancement. “The country is progressing and inflation is dropping, but they cannot sit with peace,” she stated.

She said that if the PTI had staged a nonviolent protest, they would not have been halted and accused of throwing tear gas on police officers during the previous demonstration. But, she insisted, they came to bring about anarchy. They ought to answer to the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as to why they chose not to work. She argued that using public resources for vandalism is prohibited.