It's time to put country on path to progress, says PTI chief

PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar said on Saturday that the country had witnessed so much violence during the past three years that now it was time to end the politics of confrontation and put the country on the path to progress, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

“Enough is enough,” he said while talking to reporters at District and Sessions Court in Islamabad. 

He dispelled the impression that it was for the first time that the former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan had directed the party leadership to hold talks with the government. “Talks must be held. The solution to political issues lies in a dialogue,” he said, adding, “We have set no preconditions for negotiations. But certainly, there are demands which we want the government to fulfill.”  

Barrister Gohar said the way FIRs were lodged against the PTI leaders and workers made no sense. “They all are fake. And we are quite optimistic that we will be acquitted in each and every case.”

PTI chairman said nowhere in the world, bullets had been fired at the protestors. “But what we witnessed on the night between November 26 and November 27 was a clear departure from the normal practice,” he lamented. 

He went on to say it was so unfortunate that the party protestors had hardly held a sit-in that the security forces opened fire at them. 

Court extends Qureshi’s bail

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore on Saturday extended the interim bail granted to PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi in two cases of attacks on Jinnah House and Askari Tower on May 9 until January 22.  

Senior lawyers hired by Qureshi did not turn up in the court, while junior ones sought time from the judge to give arguments. 

Judge Manzar Ali Gull heard the bail pleas filed by the PTI leader. 

The joint investigation team, formed to probe Qureshi’s role in the May 9 violence, had found him guilty.   

Reporter: Jamaludddin Jamali