LAHORE: PML-N Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique on Sunday made it clear that there is no way possible for talks with the PTI, especially after violent incidents on May 9 and vandalism of military installations.
Talking to media persons after visiting Corps Commander House, known as Jinnah House on Sunday, Kh Saad Rafique urged former prime minister Imran Khan and the entire PTI leadership to accept their mistake and apologise to the whole nation over the May 9 riots.
“They should do release a public apology,” the PML-N minister said, emphasising that what PTI did does not fall under the garb of politics.
“Imran has formed a committee…. who will talk to them? No one”, Saad Rafique mocked, saying this is no situation to hold talks.
The railway’s minister claimed that former prime minister Imran Khan had told his team to end the talks with the government, which were held on the orders of the Supreme Court last months.
He told the reporters to also question the politicians who represented the PTI in talks about the matter.
“There is an agenda for talks and there is a situation created for talks to take place,” he said. “Their team was doing a reasonable talk and matters were decided but to no avail”.
PML-N’s Khawaja Saad Rafique, while lambasting those involved in the vandalism of the Jinnah House in Lahore, said the “rioters” and their approach was shameless.
He alleged that the PTI leadership and ticket holders were involved in the arson despite knowing about the sanctity of the installation. “This fire did not erupt because of petrol or matchbox, but chemicals.”
The railways minister also claimed that “Imran poisoned the minds of the youth and sowed the seeds of hatred in their minds for years”.
Khawaja Saad Rafique visits Jinnah House in Lahore, terms May 9 vandalim ‘disheartening’
Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique has termed the protests of May 9, which erupted following the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan, as a disheartening event.
Talking to media persons outside the Jinnah House in Lahore, the PML-N leader lamented damages to valuable things “preserved” at Jinnah House including Quaid-e-Azam’s room, his writing table, and handwritten notes.
On Saturday, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif ruled out any possibility of holding talks with the PTI.
It comes minutes after PTI chief Imran Khan had formed a seven-member committee to hold negotiations with the PDM-led government.
Taking to Twitter, he wrote, “Talks are held with politicians only. No talks will be held with the group that desecrated martyrs’ graves, and terrorists who burned the country.”
The PTI committee includes senior vice president Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Parvez Khattak, Asad Qaisar, Haleem Adil Sheikh, Aon Abbas Buppi, Murad Saeed, and Hammad Azhar. Some of the leaders Mr Khan named are either in jail, hiding from arrests, or being speculated about leaving the party amid PTI’s mass exodus.
Earlier, PTI chief Imran Khan appealed the political stakeholders to hold “immediate talks” as the party had been seeing scores of its members parting their ways.
Mr Khan said whenever he called for dialogue, he began to face mounted pressure. “Do not dare think that I am weak because whenever I call for it, police come outside my home, and warrants are issued,” he added.
He went on to say that crackdown was launched against the party without investigating the attacks on Lahore’s Commander House. He asked if anyone would like to harm the army, adding that attacking the army was akin to weakening the country.
