Punjab Information Minister Azma Bukhari said on Thursday that the PTI workers, by raising the slogans of ‘Al-Jihad, Al-Jihad’, had proved that their party was a ‘political wing of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)’, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
In a statement, she said that this wing of the TTP had even formed a ‘Jihadi Squad’, which would be equipped with shells, rubber bullets and other types of weapons.
In the same breath, she said that nobody should be under the impression that the state was weak and incapable of responding to the politics of agitation. “We know how to deal with rioters and miscreants.”
Calling the former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan the ‘mastermind’ of May 9 violence, Azma said he was pitting the chief minister of a province against the federation.
“90 per cent of PTI workers are opposed to the November 24th protest, the minister said, adding, “Fissures have begun to appear in the ranks of the PTI due to the autocratic attitude of Imran’s wife Bushra Bibi. PTI founder’s sister Aleema Khan and the party stalwart Sher Afzal Marwat have openly revolted against her.”
She was of the view that PTI members of the Punjab Assembly (MPAs) were quite wise since they had refused to accept Bushra as their leader.