ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for States and Frontier Regions retired Lt Gen Abdul Qadir Baloch said on Tuesday that the government had no intention of stopping Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s march but would exercise its right to protect state property.

The minister, who was addressing a press conference, said the government had no intention of taking action against participants of Azadi march, but added that no-one would be allowed to take the law into his hand. “If the marchers damage public property and take the law into their own hands they will be dealt with iron hand.”

He said the government would not stop PTI workers from coming to Islamabad from Lahore on Thursday, but the followers of Pakistan Awami Tehreek chief Dr Tahirul Qadri who planned an Inqilab march on the same day would not be allowed to proceed.

At a separate press conference, Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafiq confirmed that Dr Qadri would not be allowed to leave his Model Town residence in Lahore. PTI chief Imran Khan, Mr Baloch said, was demanding re-election while Dr Qadri wanted to topple the government in the name of ‘revolution’.

But the minister criticised both the leaders for what he called their ‘hidden’ agenda against democracy and the Constitution. “The Pakistani nation should stand against the nefarious designs of PAT chief Tahirul Qadri and PTI chairman Imran Khan,” he said.

He criticised Dr Qadri and said he was claiming to bring about a revolution and did not accept the Constitution.

“Dr Qadri is misguiding people in the name of revolution and rejecting the Constitution,” he said.

The minister, who is coordinator for the internally displaced persons (IDPs) of North Waziristan, termed the PTI chairman a ‘dictator’ and said that not a single person from Balochistan and Sindh was in PTI’s core committee.

Talking about the hardships faced by the IDPs, Mr Baloch said the centre had given the PTI government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Rs26 billion from the divisible pool to counter terrorists. But the provincial government, he alleged, had not released a single penny for the IDPs.

Published in Dawn, Aug 13th, 2014