Imran to take up arms if Taliban try to impose their system

LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Sunday said he would take up a gun, stand by the army and fight the Taliban if they wanted to impose their system on the country.He said his party was the first to push for dialogue with the Taliban and the fact that they had announced a ceasefire vindicated its stance that talksshould be the first option.

Addressing the first meeting of the PTI provincial council at the Aiwan-e-Iqbal, the party chairman said the PTI never proposed that those who wanted to rule the country on the basis of the gun should be allowed to do so as it had called for separating the violent forces and the peace lovers.

Imran also congratulated the party’s provincial leadership and said that a new political culture in Pakistan was being introduced by the Punjab PTI in which democracy within parties would become possible. He said that the provincial council would act as a supreme body to decide the future of the largest province in Pakistan.

Appreciating the PTI’s performance in Punjab, Imran said the fact that the PTI had won by-elections on the seats vacated by the PML-N, especially those by Shahbaz Sharif and Zulfiqar Khosa, meant that it was proving to be the real opposition to the PML-N. He said that despite the ‘35 punctures in the general elections’, the PP-81 by-poll in Jhang would be a very good contest for PTI if the government did not go for more punctures there through rigging.

Earlier, PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that the Punjab PTI performance in the general elections and fight for the case of local bodies on a party basis was amazing.PTI Provincial President Ejaz Chaudhry said that the party was a common man’s party as its chairman was not a landlord or a trader but a sportsman who had given up his comfortable life to serve humanity by social work and through his political agenda of change.

Punjab PTI Secretary Information Andleeb Abbass unveiled the plan for turning the PTI into an institution by carrying out an ISO-9001 audit and bringing it up to international standards of systems and procedures.

Later, the provincial council presented four resolutions which promised raising the issue of water scarcity, pressing the case for labour rights and protesting against unfair privatisation, raising its voice for protecting women and children from violence and ensuring equal treatment to minorities in every aspect of life.

During the gathering, Imran Khan also took oath from nearly 600 members from 36 districts of Punjab.INP adds: Terming the announcement by the TTP as the foundation of peace in the country, Imran asked the government to start a dialogue with the Taliban without any fear and reservations.

Talking to Opposition Leader in the Punjab Assembly Mian Mahmoodur Rashid and other MPAs, he added that the hostile forces wanted the armed forces to fight with their people.Earlier, Imran took serious notice of some MPAs’ absence from the meeting and directed that the absentees be informed about the meeting’s decisions.

He said the country was filled with ‘Mir Jaafars and Mir Saadiqs’. Khan said the MQM, ANP, PMLN and PPP are all afraid of his party. He said those who sabotaged the negotiations process needed to be monitored closely.


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