KARACHI: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Friday evening continued his efforts to rally PTI’s support base in Karachi to support the party’s upcoming nationwide street movement.
After his visit to the Karachi Press Club (KPC), the provincial chief executive was scheduled to visit Insaf House and hold public meetings in the city’s district South and Malir.
Earlier in the evening, Afridi reached the KPC and met with the city’s journalist fraternity while appreciating the welcome extended to him by the Sindh government.
From the airport, the KP CM’s convoy took six hours to reach the press club, accompanied by a large crowd of party supporters.
During his interaction with the media, Afridi compared his arrival in the metropolis with his recent visit to Lahore and said, “Karachi has been more welcoming than Lahore”.
“The democratic traditions of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto are still alive in Sindh,” said the KP CM during his interaction with journalists at the press club.
The KP chief minister said that the purpose of his visit to Sindh’s provincial capital was to prepare for the PTI’s street movement.
“The Punjab tour was not a good experience. Wherever we went to eat food, the lights of that area were turned off,” he told reporters.
Afridi said that they had received verbal approval from the Sindh government for Sunday’s rally, though they had not received a response in writing.
“Imran Khan did not struggle for power, but for the independence of the judiciary, true democracy and freedom of expression. This is why he has been imprisoned,” the KP CM said in his address at the press club.
“In prison, he has been treated in an inhumane manner and kept in the same place where terrorists are held,” he added.
Fielding questions, CM Afridi said that he saw traces of former premiers Benazir Bhutto and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in Sindh’s governance, and expressed satisfaction.
CM Afridi, in another response, noted that a peace jirga was held in the provincial assembly, where all political parties agreed on fifteen points.
“One of these points was that military operations are not a problem, but if one is carried out, it would be thuggery,” he added.
Elaborating on the topic, Afridi said that “decisions cannot be made behind closed doors” and added that if the tribal elders and local leadership are not involved as stakeholders, “there will never be peace”.
“What guarantee is there that peace will return after a military operation?” he questioned.
“If the prime minister calls only on a single-point agenda regarding terrorism, I will certainly attend.”
“The solution to terrorism is that all political parties, as well as the provincial and federal governments, make a joint decision and implement it. Only then is peace possible,” Afridi said.
Arrival in Karachi
Afridi reached Karachi earlier today, beginning his three-day visit to Sindh as part of PTI’s street mobilisation movement.
Sindh Labour Minister Saeed Ghani welcomed him at the airport. A video released from the minister’s office showed Ghani receiving Afridi and the two hugging at the airport. Ghani was also seen presenting Afridi a Sindhi cap and Ajrak.
The party’s secretary general Salman Akram Raja also accompanied the KP CM.
Videos shared by the PTI on X showed a large crowd gathered at the airport to welcome Afridi.
An update shared on PTI‘s X account at around 5:15pm said Afridi’s convoy, surrounded by a large crowd, had reached Karachi’s main artery Sharea Faisal.
Afridi also shared a video of himself at Sharea Faisal, with PTI supporters and workers shouting slogans of “Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi”.
The convoy eventually reached the Karachi Press Club late in the evening after making a pit stop at Mazar-i-Quaid.
Afridi boarded the flight for Karachi from the Islamabad airport, where he faced flight delays.
KP Minister for Local Government Meena Khan Afridi, who is accompanying the chief minister, said in a post on X prior to their departure that their flight had been delayed.
PTI alleges dismantling of tents
Meanwhile, PTI spokesperson Mohammed Ali Bozdar alleged while speaking to media that police had removed the tents put up outside the party‘s head office near the nursery area for the KP CM’s reception.
He, however, clarified that the office had not been sealed by police.
Previously, the PTI had alleged in a post on social media platform X that Sindh police had sealed the Insaf Secretariat in Karachi and dismantled a camp installed there for Afridi’s welcome.
Bozdar said CM Afridi was expected to address party workers and leaders at the head office, where he would be taken from the airport.
He also said he had spoken to police and Sindh government officials, who have assured that the tents would be returned. He added that the officials also assured that the party would be allowed to hold a gathering but was asked not to block roads.
media reached out to police for a comment but there was no response from their side.
Afridi to hold gathering at Mazar-i-Quaid on Sunday
Before departing for Karachi, the KP chief minister said in a post on X that he was bringing party founder Imran Khan’s “message” to the province.
“My visit is for three days and during this time we have planned various activities,” the chief minister said, urging people to support the street movement.
KP CM announced that he would be holding a gathering at Mazar-i-Quaid on Sunday at 4:30pm, calling on people to participate in the gathering.
“We will hold the biggest gathering in Karachi’s history,” CM Afridi said.
Sindh Local Government Nasir Hussain Shah said in a statement issued by his office that the authorities had decided to allow the rally at Mazar-i-Quaid.
“We will fully welcome KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi in the province,” he said, adding that the peaceful struggle of any political party, including the PTI, could not be stopped.
But, he also warned that “difficulties could arise in the law is violated”.
“There is no restriction on the rally. They have sought permission for holding rallies in South and Korangi districts. They have sought permission for a rally at Jinnah Ground and they are being given permission for that,” he said. “We are in talks with the PTI leadership and they can definitely be given permission for holding the rally in accordance with the law.”
However, a notification issued by the Korangi deputy commissioner’s office earlier on January 8 cited “great traffic congestion” and consequent “public inconvenience” as the reasons to deny permission to hold a gathering in Qayyumabad.
What’s on CM’s agenda?
The KP CM, during his three-day visit, will meet with the party leadership, as well as lawyers and business leaders, and hold a meeting with Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah.
The visit is aimed at energising the party’s newly launched street movement in Karachi and other cities seeking the release of the incarcerated former prime minister.
On Monday, PTI Sindh President Haleem Adil Sheikh, during a press conference at party headquarters, Insaf House, shared the CM Afridi’s schedule for the visit.
He detailed that CM Afridi will depart from Islamabad on January 9 and arrive in Karachi, where he will be received by party workers and supporters.
His Karachi engagements include interactions with traders at the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry, a meeting with the Press at the Karachi Press Club (KPC), and street movements across districts South, Korangi and Malir.
The PTI Sindh chapter president had also said that a meeting between the chief ministers of KP and Sindh is expected on January 12, pending official confirmation.
He is also expected to meet incarcerated PTI workers, which the party says underscores its campaign narrative of resistance and sacrifice following his arrival in Karachi.
Hyderabad visit
The CM will travel to Hyderabad on Jan 1o. On his route, he will be welcomed in Jamshoro by Sindh United Party President Syed Zain Shah.
The Hyderabad leg features street protests in Kotri, addresses to the Press Club, meetings with journalists, intellectuals and farmers, and a gathering at Insaf House Hyderabad.
The agenda also includes an address to the High Court Bar Association (HCBA), but the lawyers’ body has said it never accorded permission for the CM to visit or address the bar.
Earlier, the bar association general secretary invited the CM to the Hyderabad High Court in a letter dated January 7.
In the letter, seen by media, General Secretary Israr Hussain Chang said he warmly welcomed the CM to Sindh and “commend your principled stance on the 26th and 27th Constitutional Amendments, the rule of law, human rights, and justice for missing persons”.
“We hope you will also support our ongoing legal and constitutional struggle to protect Sindh’s lands, resist unjust corporate farming allotments, and safeguard Karoonjhar Kirthar, and the water rights and Indus delta, all vital to our ecological and cultural identity.
“During your visit to Hyderabad, if you spare some moments to visit the High Court, Hyderabad, I would be honoured to receive you on behalf of the legal fraternity and people of Sindh,” the letter read.
But, the bar association clarified in a press release on January 8 that it “never accorded permission nor allowed the worthy KP chief minister to address or visit HCBA, Hyderabad”. It added that the bar association’s entire executive/ managing committee, by a clear majority, had rejected during a meeting an application submitted in this connection.
The general secretary issued his letter in his personal capacity and “used the letterhead of the HCBA without consent of the managing committee for the aforesaid programme”, the press release said.
Meanwhile, the spokesperson for PTI Hyderabad chairperson alleged while speaking to media that police had conducted raids at residences of the “elected chairpersons of different union committees and activists of PTI on Thursday in different parts of the city”.
However, no arrests could be made, he said.
Hyderabad Senior Superintendent of Police Adeel Chandio also told media that no PTI activists had been arrested during the raids in Hyderabad.
Last month, CM Afridi’s visit to Lahore — undertaken for the same purpose — was marked with difficulties. Subsequently, he had written a letter to Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz complaining about the treatment meted out to him during his visit.
Additional reporting by Mohammad Hussain Khan
Correction: This story previously incorrectly stated that the Korangi deputy commissioner had denied permission for the PTI to hold a public gathering at Mazar-i-Quaid, when in fact, the permission was denied for a gathering in Qayyumabad. The error has now been corrected.
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