Former Pakistani PM and PTI chief Imran Khan commences long march from Liberty Chowk Lahore to Islamabad today and is scheduled to reach Islamabad on 4 November and thousands of people joined the convoy that will travel around 380 kms over the next week. Khan said, " I am marching to press the government to announce election’s immediately” and not to topple anyone’s government. Khan vowed that the PTI will continue to fight for real freedom until the doors of foreign conspiracies to get power are blocked. However PTI has said that the march will be peaceful and limited to designated areas.

 

 

 

 

Earlier Khan reached Liberty Chowk in a big container and addressed his supporters wherein he admitted offering army chief Bajwa extension to save his government . He said, " he repeatedly warned Bajwa that if no confidence motion against him succeeds, it will have direct attempt on country’s economy and no one would be able to control it”.Khan’s remarks came in the wake of recent present conference by DG ISI in which he blamed Khan of offering Bajwa extension in the night and calling him a traitor in the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However his march is expected to enter Islamabad on November 4 after passing through Kamonki, Gujranwala, Daska, Sumbrial , Lala Musa , Khariyan, Gujjar Khan and Rawalpindi. Khan along with his supporters is expected to stage a sit-in in Islamabad against the Shehbaz-led coalition government after the end of the long march.

 

Pertains to mention here that this will Imran Khan’s second march towards Islamabad after he was ousted through a no confidence motion earlier this year. His protest had turned violent during a similar protest in May.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, the incumbent Shehbaz Sharif government has issued a memorandum to the federal governments expressing a fear of state instability in the wake of Khan’s proposed long march in which various instructions have been issued to the civil servants to work as per country’s constitution to maintain law and order.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pertains to mention here that 13,086 police officers have been deployed around Islamabad for the march since political rallies and marches organised by Khan have a history of violence often leading to police crackdown. Several arterial roads and important public places in Islamabad have been sealed with shipping containers.

 

 

"Today, from 28 October, our conscious nation is entering the decisive phase of the battle of its future, where the people themselves have to decide what kind of Pakistan they want to see. Get out for the sake of Pakistan”, PTI tweeted.

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile a day prior, in a big development in Pakistan, DG ISI Lt. Gen Nadeem and DG ISPR Lt. Gen Babur Iftikhar on Thursday held a press conference to address the killing of senior journalist Arshad Sharif and to unveil lies of former PM Imran Khan. This is the first time in Pakistan’s history that the head of ISI has directly addressed the media.

 

 

DG ISI while addressing the media said, "We cannot allow young minds to be induced by any narrative that is far removed from the truth”.He said truth needed to be spoken to end lies without naming Imran Khan.

 

 

 

 

 

While taking a jibe at PTI chief Imran Khan, he said it is not possible that Imran Khan can meet army chief Bajwa in the night and then call him a traitor in the day. If the COAS is traitor then why did you meet him in the hiding ? Don’t do this where you meet quietly at night through the back door and express your constitutional wishes but call the army chief a traitor in day light.

 

 

 

He added that in March, General Bajwa was given a lucrative offer for further extension in his tenure by Khan in front of me but Bajwa rejected it .He blasted at Khan and said that it was highly condemnable to speak without proof, adding that words like "neutral and jaanwar” were used to illustrate that the army was indulging in sedition.

 

 

 

During the press conference, DG ISPR termed Arshad Sharif’s death an unfortunate incident and called him an icon of journalism. Speaking on the cypher issue, Lt Gen Babar Iftikhar said that the ISPR informed the National Security Committee (NSC) that no proof was found regarding the conspiracy against the Imran Khan-led PTI government as was being claimed by Imran Khan that a foreign conspiracy was hatched that led to his ouster.

 

 

DG ISPR also said that journalists in Pakistan were fed a particular narrative and an attempt was made to defame Pakistan and the army across the world by Khan.

 

 

 

 

While speaking about Arshad Sharif’s death during the press conference, the DG ISPR revealed that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on August 5 issued a threat letter that stated that a Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was looking to target Sharif.

 

He further said that the KP government shared no information with agencies regarding the threat. He added that it looks like the threat alert was issued with the aim to force Sharif to leave the country, Gen Iftikhar said, adding that Sharif did not want to leave Pakistan and was in contact with the army.

 

Both the DG’s without naming Imran Khan held him responsible for their country’s present political instability and called his foreign conspiracy that led to his ouster from the government a bluff and in a veiled attack indicated his party’s involvement in the murder of journalist Arshad Sharif. But they said that investigation into the murder of Sharif is underway and truth will definitely come out.