ISLAMABAD: The women wing of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Monday said that party chairman Imran Khan did not go to D-Chowk on May 25 because the government had allegedly planned to kill a large number of protesters.

Speaking at a press confrere at the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House, Islam­abad, PTI women wing president Kan­wal Shauzab said that PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz was openly threatening leaders and workers of the PTI. She called Ms Nawaz an “accursed woman” and said the latter had supervised violence against the PTI workers, especially women and children.

Ms Shauzab, who was accompanied by another PTI leader Maleeka Bokhari, asked how can Maryam Nawaz, who did not hold any government portfolio, issue statements about the arrest of people.

Ms Nawaz had alleged a few days ago that PTI chairman Imran Khan had left Bani Gala and was staying in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to avoid his arrest. She also said that Mr Khan had failed to bring out more than 20,000 people in his ‘Azadi March’.

Ms Shauzab said that when Maryam Nawaz was in the opposition she used to say that she should be given special treatment for being a woman.

“However, women and children of PTI, who were participating in the long march, were baton-charged and tear-gassed. The women brigade of the PML-N was celebrating the violence against women and children,” she alleged.

The PTI leader also alleged that expired teargas shells had been used against the protesters as the expiry date of 2017 had been written on the shells.

“Such teargas shells are even not used against terrorists, but on May 25, they were used against women and children. Former minister Yasmeen Rashid’s car was broken and she was manhandled in Lahore,” she said.

She said that women and children were arrested and beaten up by male police officers.

“Rana Sanaullah has proved that he is a gangster and PTI will never forget the way protesters were treated on his orders,” the PTI leader said.

Ms Bokhari said that heavy shelling on the unarmed women and children was condemnable.

During the press conference, videos and pictures of violence against participants of the march were also shown. One of the videos was of teargas shelling during PTI’s tenure at D-Chowk. When journalists pointed out it, Ms Kanwal said “that’s why the smoke is less”.

Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2022