Pakistan: Imran Khan alters countrywide 'shut down' plan

Islamabad: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf chief Imran Khan has altered his plan to "shut down" the country on December 16, after being criticised as the protest date coincided with the formal surrender of the army in Bangladesh.

Khan, who has been protesting since mid-August, had threatened to paralyze Pakistan on December 16 if Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif failed to initiate an impartial probe into the alleged rigging in 2013 general elections.

His decision drew flake from different circles as the date of protest coincided with the formal surrender of the army in Dhaka leading to creation of Bangladesh in 1971.

There was also widespread criticism to shut down the country and the major trade organizations refused to become a part of the plan as it would cause a huge financial loss.

Arif Alvi, a senior party, said the party had in-depth talks over the protest plan yesterday at the residence of Khan in suburbs of Islamabad.

He said that the dates of shut down have been slightly changed and now the grand protest being called as shut down would be held on December 18.

Also the party has changed its original plan for protest in Lahore from December 4 to 15. The protests in Faisalabad and Karachi would be held according to the original plan on December 8 and 12 respectively.

There are reports that the party was trying to change the mode of protest as it was evident that it cannot enforce a shutdown.

The government on its part has decided to hold talks with Khan to formulate a mechanism for addressing his concerns.

The decision was taken after opposition leader Khursheed Shah met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif yesterday.

On the issue of rigging, Sharif has also written to the Supreme Court to appoint a commission to determine whether organized rigging was staged in the 2013 polls as blamed by Imran.