Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi is determined to hold a public gathering at Mazar-i-Quaid in Karachi on Sunday after PTI alleged Sindh police raided Bagh-i-Jinnah — the earlier planned venue for the rally — on Saturday night and subjected party workers to violence.
Meanwhile, Afridi also claimed that his and his team’s routes were blocked while they were returning from Hyderabad to Karachi.
The KP CM is on a three-day visit to Sindh, which began with his arrival in Karachi on Friday afternoon. He visited Hyderabad yesterday, and the PTI plans to conclude his visit with a public gathering in Karachi.
The visit is part of the PTI’s street mobilisation movement.
PTI alleges police raid at Bagh-i-Jinnah, changes rally venue
The PTI said in a post on its X account at around 8am on Sunday that the party’s public gathering would be held at Mazar-i-Quaid at 2pm.
The party initially planned to hold the rally at Bagh-i-Jinnah, and the PPP-led Sindh government had even issued a no-objection certificate for it despite objections from the PML-N.
But the PTI blamed the Sindh administration of “wasting their time” and announced that the public meeting would now be held in front of the Quaid’s mausoleum.
In a late night development, PTI spokesperson Fauzia Siddiqui posted on X that the Sindh government wasted their time as the deputy commissioner East had issued a no-objection certificate (NOC) on Saturday evening at 6:30pm.
“The public power witnessed in Karachi yesterday has frightened them; they don’t understand what to do now. The people of Karachi will be at the Mazar-i-Quaid public gate at 2pm with our guest, chief minister of KP, Sohail Afridi. We will hold a public meeting at the VIP gate at 2pm,” she stated.
But Sindh Home Minister Zia Lanjar warned of strict action if any public meeting was held on the road. “No one is allowed to challenge the writ of the government,” he said in a statement.
Later, PTI Sindh President Haleem Adil Sheikh posted on X that the rally would be held at Bagh-i-Jinnah, but the venue again seems to have been changed, going by the PTI’s latest post.
Siddiqui, as well as Sheikh, also alleged in posts on X that authorities had raided Bagh-i-Jinnah, violated PTI workers to violence and arrested several party workers.
Siddiqui said in one of her posts at around 4:30am that containers had been parked around Jinnah Ground and police personnel were present at the site in large numbers.
In another post, she alleged police had “attacked” Bagh-i-Jinnah, arrested several PTI workers and their belongings had been confiscated.
Similarly, Sheikh said in a post on X at around 2:30am that “this fascism against peaceful workers was unfortunate. The PPP and Sindh government, which harp about democracy, should feel ashamed“.
In other posts, he decried the “police raid at Bagh-i-Jinnah” and claimed PTI workers had been subjected to violence.
KP CM claims routes blocked
Earlier, KP CM claimed in a post on X that “upon my return from Hyderabad, all routes for me and my entire team have been blocked. For the past four hours, I’ve been switching between different routes. At 4:23am, we’ve now set off toward Karachi on a deserted road“.
“The Sindh government is not only playing with my life but also with the lives of my team,” he said, warning that the precedent of the treatment being meted out to the CM of one province in other provinces would “prove highly detrimental in the near future”.
“Pakistan belongs to all of us. Do not spread so much hatred here to such an extent that it becomes impossible to return from that point. Fake democratic forces are not leaving any stone unturned in this. This is extremely shameful,” he said.
Later, in a video message shared on PTI’s X account, the CM said: “We reached Karachi around 7:15pm […] We will definitely hold a rally today. It took us seven and a half hours to reach Karachi from Hyderabad.
“They had blocked the route at different places and we were compelled to travel on a deserted route. This was tantamount to putting my and my team’s lives at risk, as anything could have happened there.”
He urged Karachiites to come out for the rally today, adding that “they (the Sindh government) are afraid of the rally, but it will be held”.
More to follow
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