I will not resign: Imran Khan says ahead of Azadi March against him

Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has categorically said that he will not resign under pressure.

He made the statement in response to an anti-government protest - Azadi March [literally translated to Freedom March] - starting on October 27.

“I will not resign,” Mr Khan said while talking to journalists and political analysts in Islamabad. He made it clear that he would not cave under pressure from his political nemesis Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

Fazalur Rehman, the chief of Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam-Fazal (JUI-F), has threatened to block Islamabad with his anti-government protest that he calls “Azadi March” or Freedom Rally.

The rally is expected to start on October 27, Geo news has reported. The march, which is expected to have hundreds of thousands of participants — mainly religious hardliners from JUI-F - will — enter Islamabad on October 31 at the end of the march.

Imran will have to resign

Despite Imran’s stance, JUIF Rahbar Committee Convener Akram Durrani said on Wednesday that the Prime Minister will have to resign.

In a statement, Mr Durrani said the committee had demanded the resignation of the prime minister and they would not accept anything less.

“We asked for the prime minister’s resignation. Won’t go back without it,” he said. Meanwhile Mr Khan, according to a journalist who attended the meeting, sees a conspiracy behind Maulana Fazal’s protest which he said is driven towards a “certain agenda”.

Azadi March makes India happy

The Prime minister was of the view that the JUI-F’s plan to protest has sent a wave of joy in India. Mr Khan acknowledged that inflation and unemployment remain big problems which his government is trying to resolve. When Mr Khan’s attention was drawn towards the opposition’s stance that the PTI had also staged a sit-in under his leadership against former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Imran said his

‘dharna’ (sit-in) was not staged for nothing.

He said he had proof of electionrigging when he had launched the protest campaign against Sharif.

Photo: AFP Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan says that the Azadi March is a conspiracy against him.