Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has said that the government would not have made preparations to the extent it did if it knew that the march would only have a few participants.
While addressing a press conference along with Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, Sanaullah said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan was at the forefront of a march of just five to six thousand people but was claiming to hold the biggest gathering in Pakistan.
The interior minister said that the government should not have believed Khan’s lies that the march would have two million people marching towards Islamabad.
He stated that transport and education facilities including examinations were stopped while patients faced issues.
He added that only people from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa attended the march while the PTI gave the impression that a huge crowd of marchers was on its way to the capital.
He stated that there was “complete peace” in Punjab at the moment and added that he was happy that people of Punjab were not part of this ‘fitna’.
He added that people from Balochistan were not even aware of this “fasad”, while people from Sindh refused to be part of it.
The interior minister further apprised the audience that the few thousands who were taking part in the march had in their possession weapons and teargas and were attempting to take over Islamabad using government protocol.
Rana Sanaullah further said that Imran Khan was trying to “instigate” a civil war, and termed the march an “unconstitutional act”.
He told the media personnel that the Supreme Court had issued directions for the formation of a negotiation team between the government and the PTI.
The PTI had formed a four-member committee while Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had appointed a team. He however added that no deal had been made.
The interior minister said that 4,414 raids had been carried out and 1,700 people had been arrested while 240 people were able to leave their homes after signing an affidavit.
Some people had been detained under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, he added.
