PESHAWAR: The newly-appointed provincial president of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Junaid Akbar, here on Sunday said that persecution of the party would not deter it from its goals, but it would further increase the distance between people and ‘institutions’.
In his maiden speech to PTI lawmakers, leaders and workers in the provincial capital, he said that they could march towards Islamabad without any hesitation and fear if the jailed founder of the party, Imran Khan, issued orders in that connection.
He said that contemplation about the nature of their protest in future were under way among the senior leaders of the party. He said that they would follow instructions of party in letter and spirit in that regard.
Mr Akbar is visiting different areas of the province to motivate PTI workers for participation in the protest rally scheduled for February 8 in Swabi.
Junaid Akbar says persecution of party will increase distance between people and ‘institutions’
“This time we will land at Islamabad with full arrangements, keeping in view the bullets fired by the state. During our previous protest in Islamabad on November 24, we were not expecting the state to fire straight bullets on peaceful citizens,” he said.
Mr Akbar said that it was a wrong perception that the PTI workers were afraid of bullets and FIRs. “The more the state increases its atrocities against PTI leaders and workers, they will react in the same manner,” he added.
Unlike the previous provincial president Ali Amin Gandpur, he said that he would not give targets to lawmakers to arrange vehicles and bring a selected number of party workers to the protest venue.
Giving targets to lawmakers, which required huge amount of money to achieve, would stop poor party workers from becoming MPAs or MNAs, he said.
“It is our party’s agenda that no lawmaker should indulge in corruption. If they are given targets of arranging vehicles and bringing people then from where they will arrange funds to achieve such targets,” he questioned.
The PTI leader suggested to party workers at village and neighbourhood council levels to collect Rs2,000 to Rs3,000 from those, who could afford, and arrange vehicles for themselves to reach Swabi, the venue of the protest.
Sharing his plan with the party leaders and workers for the Swabi protest, he said that each constituency of National Assembly consisted of 70 to 80 village and neighbourhood councils.
A large number of vehicles could be arranged to take party workers to the protest if two to three vehicles were arranged by each council, he added.
“We will have differences among the party leaders but we will not harm the party,” he said. He added that he would not disappoint the party leadership, especially Imran Khan, who expressed confidence in him and selected him head of party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“I will standby the party workers and will convince Imran Khan for getting their rights. I will resign instantly if Imran Khan does not agree with me about the rights of party workers,” he said.
Regarding the law enforcement agencies’ expected crackdown, he said that the party workers would stage sit-in outside the relevant police station if any of them was picked up by any agency. He said that the sit-in would continue till the recovery of the worker.
If the protest outside the police station didn’t work, then protest sit-in would be staged outside the office of inspector general police, he said.
“I am not the man, who only delivers speeches, rather I fulfil and implement whatever I say in the speech,” he said.
Published in media, February 3rd, 2025
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