LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairperson Imran Khan on Saturday said ‘no one’ could stop the long march to Islamabad as the party geared up on the second day to resume the march from Lahore’s Shahdara area.
In a short interview with a private TV channel, the former premier said that the people would have to wait for him to reach Islamabad before he revealed his next decision.
Imran reiterated his demand for “immediate fair elections” adding that, “no one could prevent that”.
He also asserted that his party would remain within the bounds of the law and the Constitution during the march. “However, protesting is my right. The Constitution permits me to peacefully protest,” he said.
PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry announced that the march would continue to the Kamoke district in Gujranwala today.
“The love that people have shown Imran Khan highlights the political consciousness of the nation,” Fawad said through his official Twitter handle, adding that the PTI wanted to especially thank those women who came to the march with their children.
According to the former information minister, the PTI’s Haqeeqi Azadi movement includes those who wanted “to change the system for the next generation”. He maintained that the movement aimed to empower people and bring “decision-making out of closed rooms”.
“Pakistan’s middle class has come out to change the obsolete system and will change this system under the leadership of Imran Khan,” he said.
“This is the biggest freedom movement of the country,” the PTI’s official Twitter handle cited the party chief.
In another tweet, the PTI leader said that “on the one hand, the government is satisfied that people are not coming out [to march], on the other hand, media organisations have been receiving threats that they should not cover the Haqeeqi Azadi March”.
PTI kicks-off march
The march had set off from Lahore’s Liberty Chowk after Friday prayers. Imran reached the starting point of the long march by a container along with other senior party leaders.
Addressing the supporters, the PTI chairman said that the only objective and demand of the long march was the free and fair elections in the country, which would guarantee true independence in Pakistan.
“The time has come for us to start the journey of real freedom of this country,” Imran said, stressing that he was embarking upon the most important journey in his political career spanning over 26 years.
“My march is not for politics, not for elections or personal interests, but only for the purpose that the nation should be truly free, the former prime minister said from atop the container.
“Our decisions should not be taken in Washington or in Britain, rather Pakistan’s decisions must be taken in Pakistan and for the [benefit of the] people of Pakistan,” he said.
The PTI chairman further said that he wanted to see Pakistan as a country where the people’s rights were protected and everyone was equal in the eyes of the law.
