Govt should stop PTI before another May 9-like incident happens in the country: Malik Ahmed Khan

LAHORE, Feb 18(SABAH): Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and newly elected member Punjab Assembly Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan on Sunday said that the government should stop Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) before another May 9-like incident happens in the country.

Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan made these comments just a day after former Rawalpindi commissioner Liaquat Ali Chatha admitted rigging under his watch and resigned from his post.

“Another May 9 will happen on Pakistan’s structure. They [PTI] should be stopped or they will cause great damage to the state of Pakistan. There isn’t an incident as horrific as May 9 in my memory,” said Malik Ahmed Khan, while speaking in a presser in Lahore, flanked by PML-N Punjab Information Secretary Azma Zahid Bukhari and newly elected MNA and PML-N Deputy Secretary General Attaullah Tarar Advocate.

Recalling the incident, the PML-N leader said that the Imran Khan-founded PTI conspired against the state and Pakistan Army, adding that they haven’t learned any lesson from the May 9 incident.

Malik Ahmed Khan said that a campaign is being run from PTI’s accounts, adding that the propaganda is not being spread without any reason. “This is a continuation of the same conspiracy that we have been seeing before,” he added.

He said that PTI had started another “scary” campaign by uploading pictures of various DROs and their children on social media. “These people are not stopping their anarchic behaviour at all,” he claimed.

“They are [now] threatening government employees,” the PML-N leader said while calling on the caretaker prime minister and Punjab chief minister to play their role in this regard. “This is a repetition of the May 9 [riots],” he warned.

Claiming that the pictures of the families of the district returning officers (DROs) are being used to fuel hatred, the politico called on Chatha to bring forward relevant evidence to support his allegations. “This is a May 9 part two and a plan to create chaos in the country,” he added.

Speaking about the elections and allegations leveled by the PTI, Malik Ahmed Khan said that the PTI has a history of not accepting its defeat.

The politician further said that the former Rawalpindi commissioner has nothing to do with the electoral process and the election results.

“The commissioner is neither a DRO (district returning officer) nor he holds any position in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP),” said Malik Ahmed Khan, adding that the DRO and returning officer (RO) are under ECP.

Malik Ahmed Khan said that the commissioner would have shown evidence if he had any. “He spoke without evidence.”

Malik Ahmed Khan said the PTI had a tradition of not accepting the election results and the latest controversy generated through former Rawalpindi commissioner Liaquat Chatha was part of the practice.

He stressed the need for pre-empting their designs, saying they had started targeting the civil servants – a reference to the administration officials serving as district returning officers (DROs) and returning officers (ROs) in Rawalpindi – on social media by sharing not only their images and home addresses but also of the family members.

The purpose was to influence and threaten the government servants for changing their loyalties to the PTI instead of state, Malik Ahmed Khan said.

Addressing the state, he warned that if no action wasn’t taken against the elements running the campaign from outside and inside the country, they would go ahead with the “May 9 Part II”.

Blasting the former Rawalpindi commissioner, he said Chatha had nothing to do with the election process in any capacity and was facing multiple inquiries.

Malik said the PTI had attacked very foundation of the state as well as its institutions and values, adding that the government wasn’t meant to act after an event, as pre-empting the nefarious designs and planned violence.

Speaking on the occasion, PML-N Deputy Secretary General Attaullah Tarar questioned whether posting the images of DROs and ROs as well as their family members wasn’t terrorism, as he demanded a severe action against those involved in the matter.

Tarar also asked whether the close relationship between PTI social media in-charge Arsalan Khalid and Chatha wasn’t established.

In her comments, PML-N Punjab Information Secretary Azma Bokhari said Chatha held meeting with PTI leader Mian Aslam Iqbal before leveling baseless allegations. “An attempt is being made to turn the DROs and the ROs into Liaquat Chatha,” she remarked and noted that the country could not afford the anarchy which was being spread.