Islamabad
\nPlanning Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Saturday strongly condemned the PTI\u2019s D-Chowk protest call for October 15, when the two-day Shanghai Coopera\u00adtion Organisation (SCO) summit is set to begin, as \u201cpolitical terrorism\u201d, aimed at maligning the country and stopping its development and economic progress.
\nThe PTI has announced the suspension of its protests in Punjab and issued a nationwide call urging party leaders and workers to converge in Islamabad on Oct 15. The PTI has also demanded immediate access for party leaders and family members to its founder, Imran Khan, who is incarcerated in Adiala Jail. The government earlier banned visits to prisoners at Adiala Jail until Oct 18 due to security concerns rela\u00adted to the high-profile SCO summit. Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, the planning minister expressed disappointment at the timing of the PTI\u2019s protest coinciding with the SCO summit, which he said was a great honour for the country.
\n\u201cNow there is no doubt, that terrorism in Karachi and political terrorism protest calls are similar,\u201d the minister said adding that the \u201cscriptwriter\u201d was the same person who on one hand was using terrorists to carry out explosive attacks, and on the other, was using PTI to spread anarchy and undermine Pakistan\u2019s vital interests.
\nIqbal urged PTI supporters who genuinely wanted change and development to recognise the harm caused by their party\u2019s actions. The minister said that the PTI\u2019s protests in 2014 had delayed the Chinese president\u2019s visit to Pakistan.
\n\u201cThe PTI is attempting to undermine the government\u2019s economic recovery efforts. It\u2019s crucial to acknowledge the damage caused by these actions and consider the consequences of supporting policies that hinder Pakistan\u2019s growth and development,\u201d he urged.
\nThe minister said the country cannot afford to indulge in destructive politics. \u201cJust because PTI\u2019s leader is jailed, doesn\u2019t justify chaos,\u201d he said.
\nThe minister said that it was a proud moment for Pakistan to host the SCO summit on Oct 15-16 and a significant diplomatic achievement for the country.
\nSeparately, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said while speaking to the media in Sialkot that the courts should take notice of the protest call, saying they were bound to do so.
\n\u201cThe state will use all its power, resources and might \u2026 to stop this attack at the country\u2019s repute,\u201d he said, adding that the government would not allow anyone to sabotage the SCO moot.
\n\u201cAbsolutely not,\u201d the defence minister vowed.
\nMeanwhile, Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit Baltistan Amir Muqam also strongly rejected the PTI\u2019s protest call.
\n\u201cIt is proof of anti-nationalism. There is no doubt that PTI\u2019s agenda seemed to be anti-Pakistan because PTI has declared the protest on this important occasion\u201d.
\nHe added that the PTI \u201conce again showed its real face as the meeting of SCO is very important for Pakistan\u201d.
\nThe minister noted that in any case, the protest could not be allowed on the occasion and the protest call was \u201ccondemnable and very sad\u201d, adding that protests and processions could be held at any other time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Islamabad Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Saturday strongly condemned the PTI\u2019s D-Chowk protest call for October 15, when the two-day Shanghai Coopera\u00adtion Organisation (SCO) summit is set to begin, as \u201cpolitical terrorism\u201d, aimed at maligning the country and stopping its development and economic progress. The PTI has announced the suspension of its protests in Punjab …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":71529,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71518"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71518\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71533,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71518\/revisions\/71533"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}