PTI changes date of long march resumption again

LAHORE       -         The PTI leadership Monday rescheduled the party’s protest march which will now be starting from Wazirabad on Thursday instead of Tuesday (Today). Decision to this effect was taken at a meeting chaired by the PTI chief Imran Khan at his Zaman Park residence here. The date of resumption of the long march was changed thrice in two days. Earlier in the day, senior PTI leader Fawad Hussain Ch announced in a tweet that long would resume on Wednesday instead of Tuesday. But, later, this date was also changed in the evening when the senior party leaders had a meeting with the party chairman. Before this, the PTI chairman had on Sunday announced to resume the long march from Tuesday. In a change of strategy, the meeting decided to initiate the long march from two different points in Punjab. It was decided that PTI’s Vice-Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi will be leading the march from Wazirabad to Rawalpindi whereas party’s secretary general Asad Umar will be leading a separate march from Faisalabad to Rawalpindi. Asad Umar would kick start the march on Friday from Toba Tek Singh district of Faisalabad division. The marchers will reach Sargodha on Wednesday after day-long stays at Jhang, Faisalabad, Jaranwala and Chiniot. From Sargodha, the marchers will move towards Mianwali and Layyah. In the KP province, the march will start from four different locations. Chief Minister Mahmood Khan and Murad Saeed will be leading the march towards Islamabad from Malakand region, Pervaiz Khattack from Peshawar and Hazara region while Ali Amin Gandapur will be leading the marchers from the southern region of the province. Talking to the media at Zaman Park after the meeting, Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that it had been decided in the meeting that the march would be resumed from Thursday instead of Tuesday. “The registration of FIR is the topmost priority at the moment”, he said, adding that despite the passage of four days, the Punjab police had not yet registered the FIR of the gun attack on Imran Khan. He said the march would start from the point where the firing incident took place. He said that Imran Khan would give speeches through video link as the march moves onward. Qureshi said the marchers would continue their journey until “Haqeeqi Azadi (true freedom) is achieved. Meanwhile, PTI chairman Imran Khan Monday said that appointment of the country’s army chief was not a matter of concern for him anymore. “It is not my issue”, he said while talking to representative bodies of journalists at his Lahore residence. He also said it was out of question to go against the Pakistan Army. “It is our army; how can I go against it”, he said, adding that the soldiers standing on borders were like his children. The former prime minister said that he had changed the long march schedule and now the march would resume on Thursday instead of Tuesday. To a question, he ruled out the possibility of any compromise with Mian Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari in the days to come. He was confident that the long march would achieve its objective at any cost. He said the marchers will not return till they get a date for the new elections. The PTI chairman said Shah Mehmood Qureshi would be leading the long march from Wazirabad while Asad Umar would lead the march from Faisalabad. Separately, Punjab Chief Minister Ch Parvez Elahi held a meeting with PTI Chief Imran Khan at the latter’s residence here. He was accompanied by senior party leader Moonis Elahi and MNA Hussain Elahi

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