Pakistan: Govt warns anarchy won’t be allowed, Imran Khan’s rally in Islamabad

Islamabad [Pakistan]: Ahead of ex-PM Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) mega rally in Islamabad, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Saturday warned that the government won’t allow an anarchy-like situation to persist in the country.

This comes in the wake of the Mianwali rally, where PTI Chairman Imran Khan said that the public rally of millions of nationals could not be stopped by anyone, including the ‘murderer of 18 people’ Rana Sanaullah or PM Shehbaz Sharif.
The Interior Minister slammed the ex-PM for inciting and misleading the public against the ruling government. Addressing the media outside the Lahore sessions court, Sanaullah said, “They will have to give [the government] assurances that the march will be peaceful, political, and democratic.”

His remarks came as he attended a hearing of a drug case filed against him by the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF), reported Dawn.

“Even yesterday, he told his supporters not to spare anyone. I am warning you for the last time, not as a minister, but as the president of PML-N Punjab. If you don’t let go of these tactics and keep encouraging your supporters to disrespect members of other parties, you will face the same fate too. You won’t be able to escape from it,” he said.

This was in response to Imran Khan’s remarks in the address he made at the party’s Mianwali rally where he told his workers that neither containers placed on the route could stop them from their march to Islamabad nor the interior minister’s threats.

During the rally, Imran Khan accused Minister Sanaullah of committing 18 murders. In a war of words, the Interior Minister said that the PML-N too would instruct its workers to “catch and beat them up”.

“This is your misconception that you will be able to create anarchy or chaos in the country. Nothing will happen,” Sanaullah told Imran adding, “They [the supporters] will become human beings after a few thrashings.”

“You told people that this march will be bloody. I am warning you to take your words back or I won’t let you step out of your house,” he added, as per the media outlet.

Talking about the incident in Masjid-i-Nabwi, Saudi Arabia, the Minister rebuked PTI saying, “We know they were your people. They have been identified. Take action against them.”

Reacting to this, PTI leader Farrukh Habib, in a tweet wrote, “This is a fascist government which is threatening to destroy the peace and order of the country. It wants civil war in the streets.” (ANI)