Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) General Secretary Salman Akram Raja on Sunday called on party workers and supporters to prepare for a fresh political mobilisation, saying “the reign of oppression will end.”
Addressing a gathering of PTI workers at Haider Chowk, Raja said every square had now become a “D-Chowk” and claimed that people were ready to come out for the founding of PTI. “Workers will come out this time and come out in style,” he said.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi also addressed the gathering and criticised the federal and provincial governments, accusing them of coming to power through a “fake mandate”. “People of Hyderabad, tell me, whose Hyderabad is it?” Afridi asked, adding that the person who had “robbed your mandate is a thief.”
He alleged that the public mandate had been taken away not only in Hyderabad but across Pakistan. He also criticised Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz over her reported remarks about threats to Punjab, saying she should apologise to the people.
Referring to India, he questioned remarks that Pakistan faced no threat from the neighbouring country and alleged that those making such statements had business interests in India. “Anyone who is a friend of Modi is a traitor,” Afridi said, referring to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He criticised what he described as the concentration of political power within two families, saying one family was from Sindh and the other from Punjab. “First the father, then the daughter, then the husband, then the grandson,” he said, contrasting the dynastic politics with PTI founder Imran Khan's political approach.
Afridi said Khan provided opportunities to party workers and claimed that he himself had travelled to Hyderabad in taxis like ordinary citizens. The PTI leaders' remarks came as the party continues its political mobilisation and criticism of the government over electoral and political issues.