PTI will not storm Islamabad, Gohar says

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said Monday that the party's planned march on Islamabad would remain peaceful, rejecting suggestions that PTI supporters intended to storm the federal capital or take the law into their own hands.

Speaking to the media in Peshawar ahead of PTI's planned September 27 march, Gohar said the party had remained peaceful in the past and would continue to pursue its political demands through peaceful means.

PTI has announced the march to press for the release of its founder Imran Khan and other demands.

"We have remained peaceful and will continue to be peaceful," Gohar said.

He claimed that PTI was being punished despite adopting a peaceful approach and pointed to the detention of Imran Khan's sisters as well as arrests of party workers and lawmakers.

Gohar alleged that around 1,500 PTI workers had been arrested ahead of the march and said senators, members of the National Assembly, provincial lawmakers and ministers were also among those detained.

Imran Khan's sisters Aleema Khan, Noreen Niazi and Uzma Khanum have also been detained and transferred to Kot Lakhpat Jail for 30 days, according to reports. A petition challenging Aleema Khan's detention has been filed in the Lahore High Court.

Gohar questioned the arrests of PTI lawmakers and asked authorities to explain the legal basis for taking senators and ministers into custody.

"Why were our senators and ministers arrested? On what grounds?" he asked.

The PTI chairman said threats and confrontational statements from either side would not help resolve the country's political tensions.

"Threatening one another will not improve the situation," he said.

He maintained that PTI supporters would enter Islamabad carrying Pakistani flags and would not arrive as an armed or violent group.

"When we arrive in Islamabad, Pakistani flags will be visible everywhere," Gohar said, adding that PTI members were political activists and not terrorists.

"You are provoking us; we will not come like terrorists. We are political people," he said.

Gohar categorically rejected the suggestion that PTI intended to attack or occupy the federal capital.

"We are not going to storm Islamabad," he said. "We will never take the law into our own hands."

He also addressed controversy surrounding PTI Khyber Pakhtunkhwa President Junaid Akbar's earlier "Somnath" reference about the planned protest.

The remark had drawn criticism from government officials, who interpreted it as threatening. Gohar said the comment had subsequently been clarified and insisted that PTI had no intention of damaging Islamabad.

"We are not going to make Islamabad Somnath. We are not going to destroy Islamabad or attack Islamabad," Gohar said, according to reports of the Peshawar press conference.

He said PTI had already attempted to raise its concerns through parliamentary and other political forums.

"We raised our voices in Parliament, the Senate and everywhere else, yet no one listens," he said.

Gohar questioned what avenue remained available to a political party if it believed its grievances were not being addressed through parliament, the courts or dialogue.

"Is raising one's voice for justice not a democratic process?" he asked.

He challenged what he called the country's "political champions" to explain what PTI should do other than stage a peaceful protest if its demands were not being heard.

"We are political people, and we will raise our voices for the PTI founder," he said.

Gohar has repeatedly said in recent days that the September 27 protest would remain peaceful. Earlier, he said PTI would neither create unrest nor block roads during the protest.

The PTI chairman also said contacts with relevant figures at the federal level had been underway since Sunday evening and that the party had conveyed its concerns over the recent arrests. He warned that further detentions could aggravate political tensions and called for steps to prevent the situation from deteriorating.

Gohar said the party's position remained that its workers would exercise their right to protest without violence or taking the law into their own hands.

"Islamabad first, Pakistan first, the state of Pakistan first, its peace and security first and the rights of our people first," he said.