KARACHI: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Saturday departed for Hyderabad for a day-long trip to mobilise the public for a nationwide street movement.
CM Afridi arrived in Karachi yesterday on a four-day visit to garner momentum in the lead up to the planned February 8 protests, which would mark two years since the general elections that the opposition claims were rigged.
“[We] have departed from Karachi for Hyderabad,” announced PTI Sindh President Haleem Adil Sheikh shortly after 12pm.
“God willing, Hyderabad will also come out on the streets massively like Karachi,” Sheikh said, hailing the massive public response received by CM Afridi in the metropolis a day earlier.
In a post on its official X account, the PTI detailed the KP CM‘s itinerary for his trip to Hyderabad, where he will address the local press club, attend the Insaf Students Federation’s convention and participate in “street movement activities”.
The party agenda also lists an address to the High Court Bar Association (HCBA) in Hyderabad, though the lawyers’ body claimed it had never granted permission for Afridi to visit or address the bar.
The bar association’s general secretary had invited the KP CM in a letter dated Jan 7. However, in a press release issued on Jan 8, the HCBA clarified that its executive committee had rejected the application by a clear majority. It said the general secretary issued the letter in his personal capacity and used the bar’s letterhead without consent.
Speaking to the media before departing, CM Afridi said, “We were extremely happy with the way we were welcomed in different districts of Karachi and the passion and spirit we saw in the public. We thank everyone.”
Referring to his planned public gathering at Mazar-i-Quaid in Karachi on Sunday, the chief minister said the people of Karachi had “another big responsibility”.
“We have to make this jalsa successful under all circumstances and send a message to the world that Karachi was Imran Khan’s, is Imran Khan’s, and, God willing, will remain Imran Khan’s,” he stressed.
“Toward Hyderabad for street movement [sic],” said KP Local Government Minister Meena Khan Afridi on X, sharing a picture with CM Afridi, Sheikh and PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja.
The PTI’s KP chapter stated on X that the Sindh United Party (SUP) was ready to welcome Afridi.
In another post, the PTI shared a video of PTI Hyderabad Youth Wing’s “enthusiastic” members chanting slogans as they stood prepared to welcome the KP CM at the Hyderabad Insaf House.
Speaking to reporters, Sheikh said the PTI caravan will visit Jamshoro and Kotri as well.
The PTI Sindh president also shared a video showing people showering petals on Afridi in a “splendid welcome” at Karachi’s Toll Plaza.
Earlier on Saturday, Sheikh and Raja, along with others, gathered at Karachi‘s Hassan Square to record a statement as they began their journey to join CM Afridi’s convoy.
Umer Dar, the brother of Usman Dar who quit the party in the wake of the May 9 riots, was among those present.
Raja said: “Dear citizens of Sindh, we are present on your land today. I am standing opposite Karachi’s Hassan Square. As you know, a grand jalsa is being organised at 4:30pm tomorrow at Bagh-i-Jinnah under the shadow of Mazar-i-Quaid.
“We have come before you with Imran Khan’s message. This is a message of freedom […], of defending the water of Sindh’s farmers,” he said.
The PTI secretary general urged the public to attend the powershow and collectively raise their voice against the imprisonment of PTI leaders and the “violation of their privacy”.
“We have to tell the oppressor that ‘we are alive, you cannot erase us’,” he said, calling the PTI and its founder “Pakistan’s future”.
“We are the patriots of Pakistan, we are the sons of Sindh, we are the guardians of Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan, Khyber Paktunkhwa, Azad Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan,“ he said.
