Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan said on Friday that he would not seek refuge in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) or Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) to save his life, Aaj News reported.
Addressing a televised address, Imran said people in senior positions in the government have been advising him to take refuge in either AJK or GB, where his party has governments, because his life was in danger in Punjab.
"I know I have serious threats to my life. But, I will not leave Zaman Park. Whoever wants to kill me, come and kill me here. I will not run away," Imran said, urging his workers and supporters not to fear the arrests and atrocities of the state, as these were tactics to shut them down.
Imran said his struggle for the rule of law had finally matured. "If people did not back down, we would overcome the fear of the unknown for good," he said, adding that people would never have to fear police brutality or injustice anywhere if they continued their resistance today.
The PTI chief also condemned the "abduction" of PTI workers, especially Azhar Mashwani and young lawyer Hassan Niazi, saying such lawlessness was unprecedented.
Imran said over 1,000 PTI workers had been illegally detained so far to sabotage his party's planned rally at Minar-e-Pakistan on Saturday. The PTI chief said that the rally would go on as scheduled despite all hurdles and called on the nation to join the public gathering in Lahore.
Commenting on the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) decision to postpone Punjab elections till October 8, Imran said if the nation let them "murder the Constitution" now, there will be no way back.
He said it was a defining moment in the country's history and urged the lawyer's community to resist the blatant violations of the Constitution.
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