PTI workers disappointed over Imran Khan's six-day deadline to Pak govt

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan's six-day ultimatum to Shehbaz Sharif government for announcing elections and dissolving assemblies has left the party workers in dismay as they termed it an unplanned and bad idea.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan's six-day ultimatum to Shehbaz Sharif government for announcing elections and dissolving assemblies has left the party workers in dismay as they termed it an unplanned and bad idea. Raising questions about the party chief, the PTI leaders said if the people did not come out two days back then why would they come out six days later. "Even if they were to somehow make arrangements, where would they get the people from to stage a dharna long enough to get the government to resign?" PTI leaders said.

This comes after Imran Khan expressed disappointment over his party leaders for failing to call people to join his protest march as he was confident that a sea of people would turn up for the march and that even the police or the government would not be able to stop them from reaching Islamabad. Not only people but several PTI leaders in all these cities were missing from Imran's protest march, despite a large crowd gathering at his political rally in Lahore a few days prior to the protest march, the city saw a small turnout for it, reported Geo News.

While Imran showed disappointment in his party, the PTI leaders held the disconnect between the statement and reality regarding Imran's long march accountable for the failure of the march. They termed Imran Khan's decision a bad idea and said that they were not given enough time for preparation.

In spite of trying to explain to the former Prime Minister that arriving in Islamabad without a fixed date would be a far more potent strategy and that it was not a good idea to go for a march without proper planning, Imran Khan turned a deaf ear to the requests. The PTI leaders further said that they asked Imran Khan to extend the dates for the march by a few days but the PTI chief was concerned that if they extended the date, the government would be able to make plans to stop the march, reported Geo News.

They had also explained to Imran that an active supporter of PTI will participate in the rally willingly but it is not easy to gather other people, where other than Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the PTI does not have supporters elsewhere who would bear the tear gas or the heat in an effort to try and reach Islamabad. Further, apart from supporters from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the PTI does not have enough supporters elsewhere who would brave the police, tear gas or extreme heat, in an effort to reach the federal capital, which caused the low participation, reported Geo News.

Earlier, the ousted Prime Minister held a long protest march on May 25 against the present government, demanding the dissolution of the National Assembly and to conduct the next general election and invited people to join in large numbers. Khan after departing for Islamabad from the Wali Interchange in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Wednesday afternoon, asked "all Pakistanis" to take to the streets in their respective cities and appealed to women and children to come out of their homes for "real independence."

The city turned into a battleground on Wednesday as multiple scuffles took place between the police and PTI marchers after Imran Khan and his convoy entered the city and started marching towards the D-Chowk despite the Supreme Court's order to hold a rally at a ground between H9 and G9 areas of Islamabad. To control the law and order situation in the federal capital, the Pakistan government deployed troops of the Pakistan army in the Red Zone to protect important government buildings including the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Parliament House, Presidency, Prime Minister's Office and others. (ANI)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)