Imran Khan announces to hold long march from Oct 28

• Imran Khan announced the long march will commence on Friday, Oct 28
• The long march will start from Liberty Chowk, Lahore
• Imran Khan will lead the march and address the participants

LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan announced the party’s long march will commence on Friday, October 28.

Imran Khan was addressing a press conference after chairing a session at the Chief Minister’s House in Lahore. He said that the march will start from Lahore’s Liberty Chowk at 11 AM.

The former prime minister said the allegations were being leveled against him for being “irresponsible” for holding a march when the country was undergoing a crisis.

He noted that when he took office as prime minister, Pakistan was suffering from the “worst economic” situation but they managed to pull the economy and it became the best performing which was even acknowledged by global institutions.

Imran Khan said there were three long marches against his government – two by JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and one by Bilawal Bhutto – while even another by Maryam Nawaz fizzled out near Gujar Khan.

“I should have announced this long ago,” he said, adding that the government resorted to severe violence during the long march on May 25, forcing him to call of the protests or else there would be bloodshed.

He said “looters” have imposed on the government but still they faced worst form of violence went they resisted. He said elections were ‘auctioned’ at Sindh House and when they win the by-polls, there is a stream of cases registered against their leadership.

He said the media is facing the most severe form of oppression not seen even in the worst countries. He said attempts have been made to humiliate, torture and shut down senior journalists and media houses including BOL News.

Imran Khan paid glowing tribute to senior journalist and BOL anchorperson Arshad Sharif who was brutally killed in Kenya.

“I have not seen anything like what happened to Arshad Sharif. The journalist community knows he had no price for his conscience. He was a true patriot. There are two martyrs in his family. He always stood up for his country.”

He said Arshad Sharif was threatened and was forced to flee the country twice. “I told him to leave the country once,” he adding, that attempts were made to bring him back from Dubai due to which he fled to Kenya.

He said the government imposed on them made NAB amendments to save their corruption and protect their top leaders. “The long march is beyond politics. This is for real freedom. Either we want to remain independent or become enslaved to their looters.”

Imran Khan said the march does not have a timeframe but will start from GT Road and reach Islamabad. He hoped this will be the longest march in the history of Pakistan. He said this is a decisive moment for Pakistan and people should made a decision for the sake of the country.

In reply to a question, he said a monument will be erected to pay tribute to Arshad Sharif Shaheed in Peshawar.

Asked if he was holding negotiations with the government, he said a democratic party is always open to talks but he knows the government will never agree to hold elections. “They cannot win elections without a pet ECP. Now they have resorted to disqualifications,” he quipped.

He said the protests will remain peaceful and warned that attempts to instigate violence will be made by the government. He said the only solution to ending the crises was holding holding free and fair elections.

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