PESHAWAR: Spokesmen for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government have claimed that the opposition’s so-called Azadi March in Islamabad was a flop show as the people rejected the politics of personal interests and money laundering of the opposition leaders.

Addressing a joint news conference here on Friday, information minister Shaukat Ali Yousafzai and spokesman for the government Ajmal Khan Wazir warned that the government would take action if the opposition violated its Azadi March agreement with Islamabad’s administration.

They said the people of KP showed political maturity and wisdom by rejecting the opposition’s rally and that that people, especially commuters, had suffered badly due to the rally.

Insists ‘rejected politicians’ serving personal interests

The spokesmen said a group of politicians rejected by people had organised a show in Islamabad to serve personal interests.

Mr Yousafzai said Prime Minister Imran Khan won’t step down.

He said it was ironic that the Awami National Party, which had only one seat in the National Assembly, too, asked the premier to resign.

The minister said the rejected politicians couldn’t force PM Imran Khan into quitting.

He alleged that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz financed the so-called Azadi March.

Mr Yousafzai said the opposition parties were trying to pressure the government by taking out a rally to secure the National Reconciliation Ordinance-like amnesty for their corrupt leaders.

He said PM Imran Khan had announced on many occasions that he won’t make NRO-like deal with any corrupt person.

The minister said the people had rejected ANP leader Asfandyar Wali Khan, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Qaumi Watan Party chairman Aftab Khan Sherpao in the last general elections, so they would have to wait until the PTI government completed term in office four years later.

He said the Azadi March was a complete failure as the opposition parties didn’t gather one hundred thousand people in Islamabad.

The minister said the government didn’t create hurdles to the rallies and kept roads and highways across the country open to the Azadi March though only few thousand people mostly seminarians marched on Islamabad.

He said unfortunately, the so-called secular and liberal parties didn’t allow women to attend the rally.

Mr Yousafzai said the JUI-F leader’s main purpose for taking out the anti-government rally was to harm the Kashmir cause.

He said Prime Minister Imran Khan had highlighted the Kashmir issue at international forums besides exposing the inhuman action of the Indian army against the residents of the held valley.

Published in Dawn, November 2nd, 2019