Power tussle comes to a head

ISLAMABAD: Flanked by a very large number of his diehard supporters from across the country, mainly from the KPK, former prime minister Imran Khan was about to make a dramatic entry to Capital’s D-Chowk after reaching Islamabad from KPK during the wee hours of Thursday morning.

The PTI had earlier decided to hold the sit-in at H-9 but Khan decided to choose D-Chowk after the police crackdown on his workers.

So powerful was the impact of the teargas shelling that it left a large number of protesters, especially women, unconscious, but they stood firm and refused to leave the protest site.

Earlier in the day, the apex court had directed both the government and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership to find a solution to the issue through negations but it ended inconclusively after the government team turned up late at Chief Commissioner’s office for the meeting.

Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, who was representing the government side, said that they were late by 30 minutes but the PTI insisted the delay was intentional. Both sides will submit their reports to the apex court today (Thursday).

A large number of people made it to the D-Chowk despite, road blockades and tear gas shelling and firing of rubber bullets from different cities of all the provinces, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

Long march: Major arteries blocked, authorities issue traffic plans

D-Chowk remained the center of attention as the PTI workers got control of the place while the police resorted to extreme shelling to disperse the young and old workers who had gathered at the Chowk.

Meanwhile, internet services also remained suspended in some parts of the capital especially, in the areas that are adjacent to D-chowk.

Police reinforcements also arrived to secure D-Chowk from the PTI workers by midnight as Imran Khan headed towards the place.

Much later in the evening, in a video message tweeted by the PTI, Imran asked, “all Pakistanis” to take to the streets in their respective cities. He also said that people who were heading to Islamabad must reach D-Chowk.

Earlier, around 6pm, the main convoy from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, which included PTI chief Imran Khan, was able to enter Punjab from Attock after successfully removing barricades placed by the Punjab government on the Attock bridge to stop marchers from entering the province.

Some prominent PTI leaders, including Fawad Chaudhry and Shireen Mazari, also urged supporters to make their way to the capital’s D-Chowk, saying that all containers and blockades on the way had been removed.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022