Nawabshah: Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Muhammad Sohail Khan Afridi's five-day visit to Sindh entered its third day on Saturday, with the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) continuing its street mobilisation and public outreach campaign across the province.
On the third day, the PTI caravan travelled from Naushehro Feroze to Nawabshah and Sanghar and reached Mirpurkhas, before proceeding to Umerkot later in the night.
The caravan included PTI's central, provincial and Sindh leadership, including party Secretary General Barrister Salman Akram Raja, Sindh President Haleem Adil Sheikh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa President Junaid Akbar, Meena Khan Afridi, Shafiullah Jan, Malik Muhammad Amir Dogar and Adil Bazai. Sindh General Secretary Dr. Masroor Siyal, Mushtaq Junejo and other party leaders also accompanied the caravan.
Addressing participants of a street movement rally in Nawabshah, Sohail Afridi said the enthusiasm displayed by the people showed that the political landscape of Sindh had changed. He said the people of Nawabshah had rejected the narrative that Sindh was the political fiefdom of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). 'The enthusiasm of the people of Nawabshah despite the intense heat is proof that support for Imran Khan in Sindh is at an unprecedented level,' he said.
Asking 'Who does Nawabshah belong to?', Sohail Afridi said the people had given their answer by raising slogans in favour of Imran Khan. He claimed that the perception of the PPP's decades-long political monopoly over Sindh had been exposed before the power of the people. 'Zardari is a thing of the past and the era of dynastic politics is coming to an end,' he said.
Sohail Afridi criticised the transfer of political power within families, saying those who handed over power to their sons, daughters and relatives could not claim to represent genuine popular leadership. 'Leadership emerges from among the people; those parachuted into politics cannot become popular leaders,' he said.
The chief minister said Imran Khan had selected him from among the people and that he belonged to the middle class. He said he had travelled like an ordinary Pakistani in rickshaws and taxis. 'We have come from the people and will return to the people. We do not have flats abroad or islands,' he added.
Sohail Afridi said Imran Khan was not the leader of any particular province but of people belonging to every class and region of Pakistan. He said people in Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Gilgit-Baltistan, Balochistan and minority communities regarded Imran Khan as their leader. 'After Quaid-i-Azam, Allah has given Pakistan a leader like Imran Khan,' he said. According to Sohail Afridi, Imran Khan was fighting for the rights of the Pakistani people rather than for personal interests. Despite having the ability to live a comfortable and luxurious life, he said, Imran Khan remained steadfast in detention for Pakistan.
'His ideology cannot be imprisoned and his message remains alive in the hearts of the people,' he said. CM KP Sohail Afridi also criticised those who, he alleged, labelled every opponent a terrorist or an enemy of the state, saying such forces were losing public support. He said the people were now uniting for their rights and 'real freedom'. Those who had allegedly accumulated properties abroad with public money had burdened the country with debt, he said, adding that ordinary working Pakistanis were paying the price.
Sohail Afridi also expressed concern over the denial of a meeting with Imran Khan and alleged non-compliance with court orders. He said he had not been allowed to meet Imran Khan despite an order by three judges. He further alleged that the Adiala jail superintendent had ignored the court order and that Mr Khan had not been shifted to Shifa International Hospital despite an order of three Supreme Court judges. 'Failure to implement court orders proves that the judiciary has been rendered ineffective. If even a court order has no value, where will the ordinary Pakistani find justice?' he asked.
Sohail Afridi said the Sept 27 call was not for Imran Khan or the PTI alone but for the rights of every Pakistani. 'Imran Khan is looking towards his nation. Now the nation will have to come out for its rights,' he said. He said the whole of Pakistan, including Sindh, would stand for its rights on Sept 27. 'Bullets, prisons and oppression cannot defeat the passion of the people,' he said, adding that the day would determine whether Pakistan remained subject to dynastic politics or whether people reclaimed their rights.
Speaking in Nawabshah, PTI Sindh President Haleem Adil Sheikh said the PPP was 'panicking' over the PTI's growing popularity across Sindh. He said the PTI had taken to the streets to secure the rights of the people of Sindh and claimed that the PPP's political influence in the province had come to an end. 'The people are coming out for Imran Khan's release and Sept 27 will witness a major public response,' he said. Haleem Adil Sheikh alleged that the PPP was not working for the welfare of Sindh. 'Those who have compromised Sindh's water rights have no moral standing to speak about the people of Sindh,' he said, accusing the PPP of using the 'Sindh card' to protect its remaining political base. He said the PTI had always opposed any division of Sindh and would continue to do so.
Haleem Adil Sheikh also criticised the PPP government over governance, alleging that it was using political tactics to conceal its failures and corruption. He said Sindh's people were deprived of basic facilities despite the province being an agricultural region. 'Inflation, unemployment and corruption have devastated Sindh,' he said, adding that if even half of the funds received by the Sindh government over the past 18 years had been spent on development, the condition of the province's cities would have been different.
He alleged that Sindh lacked quality education, basic healthcare and adequate roads. Haleem Adil Sheikh further alleged that more than 150 PTI workers had been picked up from their homes in Karachi without justification. He condemned the arrests and said peaceful public gatherings were a constitutional right of every Pakistani citizen. He demanded the immediate release of the detained workers.
'Karachi will see a major show on Sept 6 and its people will give their guests a historic welcome. This time, Karachi's people will break all previous records,' he said.
PTI Sindh Spokesperson Muhammad Ali Baloch said the party's direct engagement with people and workers was continuing in different districts of Sindh. He said the people of Sindh had come out in support of the struggle for Imran Khan's release, real freedom, provincial rights and people's rule.
Muhammad Ali Baloch said the caravan had travelled on the first day from Khamoon Shaheed through Ghotki, Kashmore and Kandhkot before reaching Jacobabad. On the second day, the caravan visited Jacobabad, Shikarpur, Qambar Shahdadkot, Garhi Yasin and Larkana before reaching Naushehro Feroze via Ranipur, where it was warmly received by workers and residents. On the third day, the caravan travelled from Naushehro Feroze to Nawabshah and Sanghar and subsequently proceeded towards Mirpurkhas and Umerkot. He said that on Sept 6 evening, the caravan would enter Karachi through the toll plaza and pass through Sohrab Goth, Liaquatabad and Guru Mandir before reaching Shahrah-i-Quaidin, where the chief minister would address the people. Muhammad Ali Baloch said the PTI's Sindh campaign would conclude in Karachi on Sep 7. On the same day, Chief Minister Sohail Afridi would address lawyers at the Sindh High Court Bar before leaving for Islamabad.