After PTI workers at Islamabad’s D-Chowk began dispersing on Thursday, the government’s ministers claimed that the party chairman Imran Khan has “run away after spreading chaos” in the country.
Imran had given the government a six-day deadline to call elections, failing which he would “return” to the capital.
In a tweet, Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique said: “Imran Khan ran away after spreading chaos in the country.”
He said that the government has fulfilled its responsibility to stop the unrest and is now looking upon the state’s most important “pillar” for justice. He was referring to the government’s petition in the Supreme Court, seeking contempt proceedings against Imran Khan for “violating” court orders with regard to the Azadi March.
“The nation is watching [to see] how saboteurs and their masterminds who take undue advantage of court orders are treated. I have heard that justice is blind.”
A PTI supporter, who was present at the site, told a news outlet that he was “caught by surprise” when Imran Khan “decided to conclude the march”.
Imran and his caravan had reached Islamabad late Wednesday night and broke through the barriers and braved police shelling to enter the Red Zone. They had subsequently dispersed from the area after negotiations with the police.
A little before 8am, the PTI chief had addressed his supporters and said that he had decided that he would sit at the D-Chowk until the government dissolves assemblies and announces elections.
“But of what I have seen in the past 24 hours, they (govt) are taking the nation towards anarchy,” he had stated, claiming that the government is trying to create a divide between the nation and police. Imran had added that the government would be happy if he stages a sit-in in Islamabad as it would lead to clashes between the people and police and the army.
Following Imran’s speech, Punjab government spokesperson Attaullah Tarar said that the “defeated Imran Khan’s frustrated face and quivering voice has revealed everything”.
He asserted that the date of elections would be decided by the government, along with its coalition partners and suggested to the former prime minister to exit politics. “Imran Khan has pushed the PTI to a dead end. He has fallen into the pit he dug for others.
“Imran’s politics have faded into the past,” Tarar added.
Later, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif stepped out to greet law enforcement personnel who were serving at Islamabad’s D-Chowk.
Sharif’s focal person on digital media, Abubaker Umer, tweeted photographs of the premier shaking hands and thanking them for shedding their “blood and sweat for this country”.
According to state-run APP, PM Shehbaz said Pakistan’s progress is linked with the supremacy of the Constitution and ensuring the rule of law.
PM Shehbaz lauded the personnel of Rangers, Islamabad Police, and the capital’s Traffic Police for rendering their duties professionally and protecting the lives and property of the people. The prime minister appreciated the dedication of the law enforcement personnel in performing their duties “regardless of their political affiliation”.
He praised Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif for “dealing with the challenge effectively”.
Separately, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, in a statement, said that the PTI chairman “misled” the Supreme Court by “promising” to hold the sit-in at the court-designated place in H-9. “But he broke his promise by announcing to go to D-Chowk.
“Metro bus stations were set on fire, trees were set on fire and the nation saw it all,” he went on. “Hiding behind the apex court’s decision, the mob continued to create unrest all night. All night, Imran sat on the container and defied the Supreme Court’s order.”
The minister also clarified that the police never fired a rubber bullet at the protesters and dismissed such complaints as “propaganda”. “Eighteen Rangers and police officers were injured,” he said, lauding the security personnel for protecting the lives of the public by firing tear gas at the rioters.
Meanwhile, the government approached the Supreme Court, seeking contempt proceedings against PTI Chairman Imran Khan for “violating” the apex court’s orders with regard to the party’s Azadi March.
On Wednesday, the apex court had ordered the federal government and the PTI to constitute respective negotiating committees and meet at 10pm on Wednesday to finalise modalities for a peaceful and safe conduct of the party’s long march to the capital. However, negotiations were not held as both sides claimed the other had not shown up.
