http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=63779&Cat=2
Mumtaz Alvi
Saturday, August 20, 2011
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) has decided not to stage any more sit-ins near the Parliament House during the holy month of Ramazan and restart the mode of agitation next month from Gujranwala.
The PTI held two back-to-back dharnas in the federal capital against the ‘government’s corruption, non-seriousness on key national issues and incompetence’. Though the second event was devoted to the Independence Day celebrations on August 13.
Talking to The News here, PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s Media Advisor Zahid Hussain Kazmi said they were bent upon forcing the PPP rulers to go back home, as they had failed to deliver on any national front.
Zahid Kazmi noted since during the third and fourth week of Ramazan, people tended to observe Eitekaaf and perform Umrah, therefore, they decided not to hold further political events in Islamabad before Eidul Fitr.
He pointed out that PTI would resume anti-government agitation after Eidul Fitr and a sit-in would be staged in Gujranwala on September 25, to be followed by another one in Lahore prior to its long march towards Islamabad.
About the PTI show on the eve of Independence Day here, Zahid Kazmi claimed during his entire life, he had not seen such an impressive and disciplined gathering in the federal capital.
“Imran will give a final call for a peaceful march on Islamabad after the agitation in the Punjab provincial capital. All patriotic forces, be they political parties, civil society members, lawyers, traders and students will be requested to join PTI’s final show in the federal capital,” he maintained.
Referring to a sharp rise in incidents of target-killings and recovery of bodies in sacks in Karachi, he charged the rulers’ only concern was to prolong their incompetent rule and hide corruption. He alleged the rulers were not serious in restoring peace in the port city and to apprehend the culprits and punish them.
Dr. Arif Alvi, who is PTI’s Secretary General, said the main reason for calling off the remaining events in Islamabad during the month of fasting was to avoid any confusion. PTI Chairman Imran Khan hosted an Iftar-dinner for media persons here on Friday but he could not turn up at the event. Among others, PTI women wing president Ms. Fauzia Kasuri was also present on the occasion.
The party’s Vice-President Akbar Sher Babar, when asked why the PTI chairman could not attend the Iftar-dinner, he himself hosted for journalists, he replied by saying that he had two or three more commitments that was why he was asked he might skip the event here.
Meanwhile, Imran Khan in a statement claimed that there was no sign of a government in Pakistan today, as all the ruling coalition parties were involved in backing criminal elements in Karachi. He billed the PPP-led government as the most corrupt in Pakistan’s history and cautioned if the present sorry state of affairs persisted any longer, the country could face a big tragedy.
