LAHORE - Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan stated on Saturday his party’s Sunday protest rally against price-hike in the sprawling Lahore city will be a peaceful show, but warned the Punjab government of a befitting response if it tried quelling the demonstration.
“We will stage a peaceful show against inflation and price-hike, but we will pay back in the same coin if the Punjab government tried disrupting our protest rally using force, through police,” Khan, who was flanked by senior PTI leaders, told a news conference here.
He appealed to police officers not to act upon any unlawful direction of the provincial rulers, saying price-hike was the issue of each Pakistani, be it a member of the government machinery or a private worker.  Khan told the newsmen before him that his party would put up a historical show against soaring prices of edibles and commodities despite the cold weather. He said the rulers should prepare themselves to witness another tsunami today.
PTI chief claimed his party could present a formula to deal with ballooning inflation through a people-friendly economic policy. He maintained that prices of essential items in Pakistan were higher than other countries in the Asian continent.  The cricketer-turned-politician came down hard on the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz for its unwise policies. He said the government printed a huge number of currency notes in the past seven months to meet its expenses that caused the rupee to devalue by 10 per cent.
About Sunday’s protest rally, Khan further said Sheikh Rasheed and Jamaat-e-Islami leaders would join the demonstration along with their workers. Participation of Pakistan Awami Tehreek and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid leaders was also expected, he added. 
In reply to a media query about military action in North Waziristan, Khan said several innocent lives lost during operations could have been avoided had the government evacuated women and children before the shelling in the tribal area.