Khan’s Supporters Resume ‘Long March’ Week After Failed Assassination Attempt
Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan speaks while taking part in an anti-government march in Gujranwala
Pakistan’s ex-PM Imran Khan commenced his ‘haqeeqi azadi’ (complete freedom) march to capital Islamabad from Lahore on October 28. On November 3 , Khan suffered bullet wounds to his right leg in an alleged assassination plot en route to Islamabad. Khan has urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to hold a national election at the earliest date.Thousands of supporters of Pakistan’s ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday resumed their ‘long march’ towards capital Islamabad from the town of Wazirabad in Punjab province, exactly a week after Khan was wounded in an alleged assassination plot at the same spot.Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has said that thousands of supporters have also begun marching towards Rawalpindi, on the outskirts of the Pakistani capital, from other parts of Punjab as well as Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provinces.
WorldImran Khan, Close Aides Wounded in Shooting at His Container During Long March3 November, 11:48 GMTThe former prime minister’s supporters marching from different parts of Pakistan are expected to converge in the garrison town of Rawalpindi in the third week of November before they march to Islamabad.Meanwhile, hundreds of Khan’s supporters have been staging sit-ins at different entry and exit points of Islamabad in a show of protest over the gun attack against Khan.
Khan Addresses His Supporters As Long March Resumes
Addressing his supporters in Wazirabad virtually, Khan squarely accused Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and federal interior minister Rana Sanaullah of orchestrating the assassination plot.
Khan reiterated his allegation that Major General Faisal Naseer, the director general of counterintelligence in Pakistan’s spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), helped to execute the plot.
The cricketer-turned-politician added that he wasn’t allowed to register a police complaint against the three people because of their influential positions.“Rather than being intimidated as they had thought, I am all the more determined to lead this march to Islamabad in order to achieve our objective of complete freedom,” said Khan.He further said that he would join his supporters from across the country once they reach Rawalpindi later this month.In the absence of Khan, the PTI supporters will be led by PTI’s vice-chairman and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.Khan was removed from power in a no-confidence motion in April and has accused the US of instigating his ouster over Islamabad’s “independent foreign policy” under his government.He has described Sharif as a “stooge” of the US and vowed to oust him in order to achieve “complete freedom” for the population.
“The US-Pakistan relationship has been that of master and slaves. We want a relationship with the US like that of India, in which we protect our interests,” Khan told a television channel in an interview on Wednesday.
