Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has issued a warning against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan saying that the ousted former prime minister wants a civil war in the country, but the nation will hold him by the collar for his sins.
"Imran Niazi wants to initiate a civil war in the country. But he is mistaken. The nation will never forgive him for the sin and will hold him by the collar," Shehbaz said, in response to the media questions on PTI's announcement of a long protest march to Islamabad on March 25, the Dawn reported.
PM Shehbaz was addressing the media at the Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute on Sunday. Speaking of the government's plans to stop the march, he said that decision would be taken if and when needed.
Meanwhile, the country's Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah also commented on the PTI's long march and said, "The government and its allies would decide whether the PTI's long march should be allowed to enter Islamabad."
"If the coalition goes for action, we will not allow protesters to even come out of their homes," he added.
Referring to PTI's promise to organize a peaceful march, Sanaullah further said, "Keeping in view the past record of PTI and its workers, my apprehensions are that they will come to Islamabad with the intent to cause anarchy. I do not trust Imran Khan since he had a history of speaking "lies and taking U-turns," the Dawn reported.
"Three days behind bars will wipe politics out of him," he added.
He further accused Imran Khan of victimizing political opponents during his three-and-a-half-year tenure and said that he did nothing for welfare projects.
"The former prime minister didn't have even a single moment to think about the welfare of the masses, while he remained to ride the nerves of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to victimize the opposition leaders," Sanaullah added.
Speaking on the same issue, Pakistan People's Party (PPP) secretary-general Nayyar Bokhari said that people would fail the PTI's long march as Imran Khan's government burdened people with an unprecedented price hike, the Dawn reported.
"Mr Khan's politics would not go ahead on the pretext of seeking support from the families of police officials, bureaucrats, and military officials. Imran has turned hundreds of thousands of people jobless and now he will have to face their wrath," he said.
Bokhari also said that holding a public meeting was a legal right of every citizen but the government will not allow the PTI protesters to take the law into their hands and will be dealt with iron hands if they became violent.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
