PESHAWAR, May 27(ABC): PTI Chairman Imran Khan Friday rebutted rumours of his party striking a deal with the establishment and said that he ended the “Azadi March” to avoid bloodshed.
In a surprise move on Thursday morning, Khan gave a six-day ultimatum to the government to announce the election date, warning to return with three million people after chaos gripped the country and the army had to be called in for the protection of government buildings in Islamabad’s Red Zone.
In a press conference — flanked by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan and PTI leader Atif Khan a day after the violent long march came to an abrupt end — Khan said he witnessed rising anger among the masses after the police crackdown on party leaders across major cities.
“I had observed the anger rising among people against the police after the things they did to stop the march. Keeping that in view, if we had continued to march as announced, the country would have plunged into chaos and anarchy.”
The PTI chairman slammed the government for the “brutal” crackdown against the protesters, saying Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah deployed police officers of his choice to crack down on the PTI workers.