Railways Minister Saad Rafique on Thursday said the government had decided to register FIR against 21 persons including the prime minister and chief minister Punjab as nominated by Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) in their case.
Talking to media outside the Parliament House, the minister said the government would not file appeals against Lahore High Court verdict in connection to Model Town incident.
He said parliament and government made intense efforts to mend fences with the protesting leaders, but to no avail.
“We requested the Imran Khan-led PTI to call off their protest and sit on the table for talks. But Mr. Imran was persistent in taking out long march. Despite all his hard statements, the government allowed him to proceed with his march plan,” he said.
Rafique said Imran reneged on his promise and marched on to the red zone. He said the PTI chief used non-parliamentary language on pretext of sit-ins and protests. “We responded to him politically but did not enter into personal confrontation.”
He said the government accepted five of the six demands of Imran. He asked how an elected prime minister could be sent packing without any evidence of rigging against him.
He requested the Imran Khan to “please let marchers go their home and let the government and institutions work properly.”
The minister said Imran was hell bent on prime minister’s resignation – be it for three days even.
