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Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and MNA Sher Afzal Marwat has disclosed that the decision to avoid holding a protest at Sangjani was made by PTI founder Imran Khan, stressing that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur was opposed to advancing towards D-Chowk in Islamabad.
Marwat’s remarks came as the former ruling party, which has been experiencing challenges on the political and legal fronts for months, now confronts internal rifts in the wake of the party’s “do-or-die” protest fiasco.
PTI founder Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi and Gandapur are facing strong criticism for their decision to march towards D-Chowk despite Imran’s willingness to hold a rally at Sangjani.
The decision to push towards D-Chowk ultimately exposed the PTI workers to security forces’ operation that led to an abrupt end to the protest, sparking widespread condemnation within the former ruling party.
“The KP CM was upset as he did not want to proceed beyond the Kulsoom Hospital limit. He was not in favour of marching towards D-Chowk beyond even Chungi Number 26,” the PTI leader said while appearing on Geo News programme Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath on Thursday.
The PTI received on Thursday the government’s offer to stage a demonstration at Sangjani and the party’s chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and Barrister Saif visited the party’s founder Imran Khan at Adiala Jail to inform him about the offer, Marwat said.
He added that after the duo came out of the prison, Gohar told him (Marwat) that Imran was not willing to accept the Sangjani offer. So, it is wrong to level the blame on Imran’s wife Bushra for being adamant about going to D-Chowk as the party’s initial decision was to head to D-Chowk, he noted.
“Gandapur was reluctant to move beyond 26 Number Chowrangi, expressing his concerns and unwillingness to proceed to D-Chowk. He even visited Bushra Bibi’s vehicle twice,” the PTI politician said, claiming, however, that he was not aware of any arguments between Gandapur and Bushra Bibi.
Shedding light on the chaos during the protest, Marwat also remarked that the power supply to the leaders’ container was cut off, and there was no technician available to fix the issue.
The PTI leader said that he observed that no one was assigned the duty of instructing workers about what they were supposed to do.