Pakistan's ex-PM directs party workers to gear up for ‘Haqeeqi Azadi March’

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday asked his party workers to prepare for another mega protest later this week to press for the dissolution of the National Assembly and announce fresh elections in the country. Party workers said Khan will announce the long march any time after October 9, the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad, according to Express Tribune newspaper.

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday asked his party workers to prepare for another mega protest later this week to press for the dissolution of the National Assembly and announce fresh elections in the country. Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), made calls for the ‘Haqeeqi Azadi March’ (real freedom march) during a meeting held at his Bani Gala residence here. Party workers said Khan will announce the long march any time after October 9, the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad, according to Express Tribune newspaper. ''This time the freedom march will be carried out with full preparation,'' the newspaper quoted Khan as saying. This will be Khan's second major rally, after the first one, known as the ''Azadi Rally,'' which he had called on May 25, was abruptly called off at the last minute after his party workers arrived at the federal capital. Khan said special instructions will be issued to his workers before the start of the march, as he called a meeting of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa parliamentary party in Peshawar on Tuesday, the report said. While addressing a mega rally last month in Punjab’s Rahimyar Khan district, Khan said he would give the final call for anti-government protests when the time was ripe, asserting that it would come when he is assured that he can “take three wickets in one ball”. “You remain prepared I will give you [protest] call when my opponents believe that Imran Khan has given up and that day is not far,” he said, adding: “This time we will come with full preparation.” Khan said that his much-hyped call for the next protest against the coalition government will be the “last”, following which he would not stage any more rallies. “That call will be given to save Pakistan through free and transparent elections. We don’t have any other way other than the elections to save the country,'' Khan had said. Meanwhile, the Capital Territory Police has procured 40,000 tear gas shells to quell Khan's 'Haqeeqi Azadi March.’ Since he was ousted from power in April, Khan, the 69-year-old cricketer-turned politician has repeatedly claimed that the no-trust motion against him was the result of a “foreign conspiracy”. Khan has emphasised that his party would not deal with or accept the “imported government” headed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

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