Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Wednesday said the Punjab police have arrested at least 1,700 workers of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in “4,414 raids across the province” in a bid to scuttle the ‘bloody’ long march by the former ruling party.
Addressing a press conference alongside Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb in Islamabad, Sanaullah said the police were told by the government not to adopt an “aggressive stance” during the raids.
He said at least 1700 arrests were made during these raids. “Out of these 1700, 250 people signed affidavits that they were not part of this ‘fitna’ and were allowed to go home while the rest of them had been detained under MPO (Maintenance of Public Order) 16,” the minister added.
He claimed that people refused to join the ‘anarchic’ protest of the PTI and chose to stay at home. He further claimed out of 200 million residents of Lahore, only “250-300 came out to express their support for the former ruling party”.
He said the public wanted to see Pakistan grow in a democratic way instead of becoming part of a plan to derail its progress.
Speaking about the protesters coming from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa led by Imran Khan, the interior minister, in a sarcastic tone, said that the government was ready to extend its ‘welcome’ to them.
He said a strategy had already been in place to ‘thin marchers out’ before reaching Islamabad.
Speaking about the hearing of a petition in the Supreme Court, the minister said the SC was the “supreme protector” of the Constitution of Pakistan. He added that the government would comply with the order of the top court as per the instructions of the prime minister. “It is our responsibility and legal and constitutional duty as well,” he added.
According to Sana, the three-member bench had proposed a negotiation team to break the impasse over the protest. He added that the four-member team of the PTI was being led by Babar Awan whereas the prime minister would have announced the government team by this time as well.
Furthermore, the minister reiterated that no agreement had been reached with the PTI over the sit-in, however.
