ISLAMABAD: As the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) prepares to bring the government to a grinding halt on Nov 30, the ruling party has accused Imran Khan of collaborating with “terrorist groups” in a bid to create lawlessness in the country.

But Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid, who levelled the allegation at a press conference at the Press Information Depart­ment (PID) on Sunday, did not explain who these terrorist outfits were. He simply said, “We have credible information the PTI leadership has now outsourced the task of creating a law and order situation during its Nov 30 rally in the capital.”

When asked to elaborate, the minister stuck to recounting how PTI workers, in collaboration with activists of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) and armed with iron cutters and cranes, had broken into the Red Zone and later attacked the Pakistan Television (PTV) building and even stormed the lawns of Parliament House.

“You don’t see these characters during PTI’s daily “light and sound” show at D-Chowk; they are only called out for special tasks,” the minister said, adding, “The government is watching them closely and we will take all necessary action.”

Information minister says govt has nothing to do with arrest warrants

The minister, who is also the official spokesperson for the prime minister, warned the PTI that if anything untoward were to happen during the PTI rally, Imran Khan would be the one responsible. “The government is forewarning the PTI because Mr Khan has developed a habit of taking his words back,” he said, recalling how the PTI leader had first acknowledged that his party workers did indeed enter PTV premises, but later denied having said that.

Read: ATC declares Imran, Qadri absconders

Talking about the warrants issued for the arrest of Mr Khan and other PTI leaders by an Anti-Terrorist Court, Mr Rashid contended that it was the court that had directed police to take necessary action and that “the government has nothing do with this”.

When reminded that Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had said that the government had no intention of arresting the PTI chairman, the information minister explained that the government didn’t want to use force against Mr Khan and his party.

The minister claimed that the government had shown unprecedented restraint all these months that the PTI and their supporters have been camped outside parliament and had managed to unmask both Mr Khan and Dr Tahirul Qadri. Mr Rashid said that the PAT chief had returned to Canada to renew his passport. He also chided the PTI chief and said that the people had begun to notice his frequent ‘U-Turns’, the most recent of which was his decision to back off their demand for the PM’s resignation.

Mr Rashid minced no words when he asked Mr Khan to ‘behave’. The government has heard his “continuous rants and white lies” patiently, but future misadventures might land him in more trouble, the minister warned.

Asked if the government planned to resume talks with the PTI leadership any time soon, Mr Rashid reiterated the government’s stance that the PM had already written to the Supreme Court asking to set up a three-member commission to investigate the allegations the PTI leader had levelled against the ruling PML-N.

“The SC commission, for which the PM has already written to the chief justice... can only probe these allegations. But as far as election petitions are concerned, election tribunals are the only lawful forum,” the minister explained.

Senator Rashid wrapped up the late afternoon press talk by demanding that Imran Khan give a public commitment to hold a peaceful rally on Nov 30 and whether he stood behind the recent provocative statements made by Sheikh Rashid at PTI rallies.

“If Mr Khan believes that PTI workers were not involved in the attack on PTV headquarters, why has the party hired to defend people booked for trespassing on government properties,” the minister asked.

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2014