Amid rising speculations of his arrest, former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has hinted that he has a plan prepared for the situation. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman, without sharing key details, revealed that a plan has already been prepared in case of his arrest, reported Pak media Geo News.
“In case I am arrested we have a plan ready which will be shared with the nation when the time is right,” he was quoted as saying by Geo News, hours after Khan postponed his party’s election rally in Lahore on Sunday.
Reacting to criticism over cancelling his rally, Khan said that he got scared after seeing a large number of PTI supporters and was afraid that there might be bloodshed if everybody came out.
According to Geo News, the PTI chief postponed the party’s election rally in Lahore after the Punjab caretaker government imposed Section 144 (ban on public gatherings).
Khan on Saturday announced a fresh rally in Lahore following which the district administration banned public gatherings by invoking Section 144 in the Punjab capital. The officials cited concerns in the wake of a Pakistan Super League (PSL) match in the city.
The PTI defends cancelling the rally as a move to ensure peace, but the rival PML-N leaders call them out for being “cowards”.
Imran Khan has drawn tens of thousands to his rallies in recent months and asked his supporters to get out on the streets for the election rally.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) last week on Tuesday reserved its verdict on PTI chief Imran Khan's plea seeking cancellation of the non-bailable arrest warrants against him. The warrants were issued by a district and sessions court in the Toshakhana case due to Khan's persistent absence in the case hearings.
Meanwhile, Maryam Nawaz called Khan a "jackal" for his decision to postpone the party's election rally.
“Those who cancel movements and prefer to hide inside their houses due to the fear of the police are called jackals,” Maryam said on her official Twitter handle, quoted Geo News.
“While one who leads from the front, breaks all obstacles created by [former president Pervez] Musharraf and restores judiciary before reaching Gujranwala is a sher-dil leader called Nawaz Sharif,” she wrote.