Imran Khan in Rawalpindi to address first protest rally since being shot
PTI Chairman Imran Khan, in a surprise move, Saturday announced that his party has decided they will not be part of “this system” and will quit all the assemblies.
Addressing a charged crowd in Rehmanabad, Khan said that they will not remain a part of the current political system and will instead resign from all the assemblies.
Recovering from bullet wounds, Imran Khan to take on this enforeced government headon
Imran Khan, recovering from bullet wounds suffered during an assassination bid on November 3, is determined to head to Rawalpindi later today to address the planned big protest of his Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party to demand snap elections, in a move that may further exacerbate the political crisis in Pakistan.
The protest march is the moment the former prime minister has been building up to for weeks now — and his first public outing since the attempt on his life during the first phase of what the opposition party calls a movement for real freedom, or haqeeqi azaadi.
Khan remains unable to walk so is expected to address the protesters from a wheelchair. According to security agencies, there remains a high risk of another assassination attempt, so he’ll be shielded within a cube of bulletproof glass. His supporters are on the move from all corners of the country to reach the garrison city, the twin sister city of Islamabad, where a stage has been prepared on the Sixth Road Flyover in the middle of historic Murree Road.
Some avid supporters, who have already landed in the city, were housed in a temporary tent structure set up in the Iqbal Park near the venue of the rally.
Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad, chief of the Awami Muslim League (AML) party and an ally of Khan, said there will be a “sea of people and a referendum” in his home city.
Khan has assured the cricket board, in a meeting also attended by the British high commissioner in Islamabad, the rally will not disrupt the Rawalpindi Test between Pakistan and England.
Khan said on Friday that despite being injured he is determined to head to Rawalpindi for the “sake of the nation”.
