PTI should postpone long march for security reasons: Rana Sanaullah

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Friday advised Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to postpone the long march owing to fears of a terrorist attack.

Addressing a press conference, he said “intelligence agencies have told the government that miscreants can create unrest in the long march.”

Referring to PTI chairman Imran Khan, who sustained bullet wounds earlier this month in an assassination attempt, he said: “Imran’s life is in danger and I have instructed the police to secure all sides of the venue.”

“No one should enter without being searched and the stage should be bulletproof.”

He also advised police to regularly supervise people who are present on the stage.

He told Imran that his demonstration would prove to be pointless and he will fail to get a date for the general elections.

“If your blackmailing was successful, you would have gotten the election date,” he said. “Neither the establishment nor the government will come under your pressure.”

PTI has received conditional permission to hold a demonstration in Faizabad, Rawalpindi on November 26.

As per a notification issued by Deputy Commissioner (DC) Rawalpindi, protestors are not allowed to chant any anti-state slogans or deliver speeches that are against “constitutional offices, armed forces and the judiciary”.

The notice also said that Faizabad should be vacated on the night of November 26 as the England team is arriving in Rawalpindi for a Test series against Pakistan on November 27.

Police have been directed to take all necessary security measures for the sit-in.

The document stated that PTI Chairman Imran Khan and the administration should use the prescribed route decided by the law enforcement agencies and “Khan will not use a sunroof car before and after the gathering.”

Reacting to the notification, PTI leader Asad Umar said there is no doubt that Imran’s life is in danger and DC has refused to permit him to land helicopter in a safe place.

“Instead, the administration wants the former PM to land in a dangerous area,” he told the media on Friday.

“The orders are coming from elsewhere but your signatures are on the document,” Umar told DC Rawalpindi. “If something happens to Imran, you will be held responsible.”