• Asad Qaiser says demonstration plan not postponed or cancelled
• Insists nation was ‘deprived of democracy’ on Feb 8
• PTI Islamabad chief alleges crackdown on workers weakened capital’s security
• PTI KP chapter says party lawmakers to hold rallies in their respective districts
• Party leaders in Punjab slam police raids, arrests
ISLAMABAD/ LAHORE/ PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) is set to stage nationwide protests on Sunday (today) to mark the second anniversary of the “stolen” Feb 8, 2024, general election, while also observing a mourning day following Friday’s suicide bombing at an imambargah in Islamabad’s Tarlai area.
PTI leader Asad Qaiser told Dawn the party had neither postponed nor cancelled its protest programme. “The day will be observed as a National Day of Mourning and, at the same time, protests will be held across the country against rigging in the general election,” he said.
Mr Qaiser said Feb 8 was not only about PTI founder Imran Khan and the party leadership. “It is a day on which the nation was deprived of democracy and the right to choose its representatives,” he said, adding that the party would hold protests and a shutter-down strike “with the masses” against the alleged electoral manipulation.
He said PTI and the opposition alliance, Tehreek-i-Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP), would continue their efforts to restore democracy and uphold the rule of law. He said that as many as 10 committees had been formed at international, national and provincial levels to mobilise support for the protest.
He said that Feb 8 was a “day of humiliation” for the entire nation as people had been allegedly deprived of their fundamental right to elect representatives and became powerless.
PTI Islamabad President Amir Mughal said the party would combine the protest with mourning activities.
He alleged that law enforcement agencies had focused on arrests and crackdowns against PTI workers, resulting in weak security arrangements in the federal capital and leading to Friday’s bombing that left at least 36 people dead and scores injured. “If police had focused on the security of the federal capital, the suicide attacker may not have entered the city,” he claimed.
‘Silent agitation’
In Punjab, the PTI said it would observe a “silent agitation” by urging people to stay home and keep bazaars and transport shut voluntarily as part of a shutter-down and wheel-jam strike to express their resentment against a “Form-47 government that stole people’s mandate”.
Party workers and office-bearers distributed pamphlets and met representatives of traders, students and transport unions to seek support for the strike.
The party’s Punjab chapter prepared two pamphlets — titled Imran Khan qaid nahin (Imran Khan is not imprisoned) and Pakistan ki faryad — abhi ya phir kabhi nahin (Pakistan’s cry — now or never) — and directed its MNAs, MPAs, ticket-holders and office-bearers to distribute them door to door, in markets and at shops across the province.
