SWABI: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf provincial president Junaid Akbar on Monday blasted the Federal Interior Minister, Mohsin Naqvi, for threatening crackdown on PTI leaders and workers if they went ahead with their planned public gathering at Minar-i-Pakistan in Lahore on Feb 8.

It is to mention here that PTI has also planned a public meeting near the Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway here on Feb 8.

Mr Akbar was talking to media persons during a visit to the venue of the proposed public meeting along with other leaders of the party.

He said that the interior minister was not a politician, and would not always enjoy the powers he was enjoying right now. “PTI is a strong political party and is in the minds and hearts of the people.”

To a question, Mr Akbar said that the Punjab government would be frustrated if it initiated crackdown on PTI leaders and workers.

Junaid Akbar, who recently assumed the office of the party’s provincial president, said that people from different parts of the country would also participate in the Swabi gathering.

“The public meeting will be a historic one. It will be the first after breakdown of government-PTI negotiations,” he said.

He said invited people from every nook and corner of the country to attend the public gathering.

Meanwhile, PTI leaders continued holding corner meetings to woo people to attend the gathering. They said PTI leaders and workers were committed to making the gathering a success.

Abdul Karim, adviser to the chief minister, said that they were very hopeful that like other public meetings in Swabi the upcoming gathering would also a big one. “Our workers will play a big role in making it a success,” he said.

Published in Dawn, February 4th, 2025