Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Saturday blamed Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur for unrest in Islamabad, stressing the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was leading the “mob” targeting the federal capital.
Addressing a press conference at D-Chowk, Naqvi said Gandapur should be aware of the consequences of his actions, adding “if I launched an onslaught against any city, I too would have to pay the price for my actions.” Recalling that Gandapur had initially claimed the PTI protest would not take any action that damaged property, he regretted that all the KP C.M.’s actions had attacked public infrastructure.
“If he crosses any more lines, we would have no choice but to pursue extreme steps,” he warned, lamenting that it did not appear Gandapur was ready to step back from his aims. To a question, the minister said many attempts were made to explain the situation to Gandapur, but he appeared to have “other aims” that he was unwilling to share with the federal government. “His aim seems to be to sabotage the SCO conference,” he said, claiming there was sufficient evidence to support this allegation.
Naqvi further noted that negotiations were not possible so long as the mob kept trying to attack Islamabad. He said the political leadership was debating how to address the situation, but reiterated that the KP chief minister had “crossed many lines.”
The interior minister said authorities were looking to increase deployment of police in Islamabad to support Army and Rangers in ensuring peace. He also apologized to the general public, especially residents of Islamabad, for the road blockades, cellphone restrictions and other measures taken to control the PTI’s protest. “They have weapons, while our police still have no weapons,” he said, restressing that their aims were different to those of the PTI leadership.
According to Naqvi, authorities have arrested 120 people, nearly half of them Afghans, since the protests launched a day earlier. He said firing from the KP convoy had injured 80 police personnel.