Imran Khan to announce "Haqeeqi Azadi March" date next week

ISLAMABAD: Warning the government against taking steps to stop the march, PTI Chairman and former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said Saturday that he will announce the date for his "Haqeeqi Azadi March" next Thursday or Friday, reported Geo TV.

On the other hand, the administration has seized over 700 containers to counter the 'Azadi March'. The capital police said they will manage around 1,100 containers to seal the capital off during the long march.

Out of the total, 525 containers have been placed on 22 different roads, reported The News International.

Earlier, on Monday, the PTI chief warned the Shehbaz Sharif-led government that the anti-government "Azadi March" would not be delayed past October as they have completed their preparations.

In a press conference, Khan said, "My march will be held in October if the government does not announce the date for the next general election," reported Geo News.

The PTI chief warned the government that multitudes of people would take to the streets responding to his call to the nation for the anti-government march. Khan said he was still cutting the government some slack so that they could decide on it.

"I am actually giving them some more time before embarking on our long march protest."

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Monday warned Imran Khan that the government will respond with "full force" if he announces a long march and enters the federal capital, reported Geo News.

Speaking during a press conference in Islamabad, the interior minister said that Khan has started the culture of bringing huge crowds out on the streets, but the government knows how to end it. "We also know how to take a similar path," he said.

Khan's press conference came after his party won Sunday's by-election by a major margin. The PTI won six of the eight National Assembly seats up for grabs and his party added two more to their seat count in the Punjab Assembly.

The PTI chief also condemned the law enforcement agencies for booking the ageing PTI leader Azam Swati in a "baseless case" and then allegedly subjecting him to grievous bodily harm in police custody.

"They beat up the 75-year-old in front of his grandchildren." Chiding the government for allegedly torturing PTI leader and former federal minister, he said that what the authorities did to him was "utterly shameless," reported Geo News.

Saying that he was accused of isolating the country, Khan dared his accusers to read his reply to the tweet of former US president Donald Trump immediately after his "illegal" ouster. "Americans respect nationalists," Khan said.

He alleged that the government spent hundreds of millions of rupees on their US visits. "Bilawal was touring the whole world, while Sindh was sinking," reported Geo News.

He said it was old propaganda against Pakistan that was still being actively pursued and they were pushing the country to the brink of default. "I had said they left the country in the lurch of default twice before."