Blocking Sharae Faisal: Court grants bail to Faisal Vawda

PTI leader says he acted in his individual capacity

KARACHI: In the early hours of Thursday, a Malir court granted bail to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Faisal Vawda, who was detained by the Airport police a day earlier for causing inconvenience to citizens by blocking Sharae Faisal in protest.

A case (wrongful restraint) was also registered against him, informed SHO Mithal Bhurgari. Malir’s Judicial Magistrate Court approved Vawda’s bail plea against a bond of Rs30,000.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Vawda, who was criticised by his fellow party members and citizens of the metropolis for blocking Sharae Faisal for over five hours on Wednesday, said he is only taking forward party chief Imran Khan’s mission. He clarified that the demonstration was carried out by him as a citizen of Pakistan against the ‘missing government’.

In an apparent jibe at party colleagues for using ‘harsh words’ against him, Vawda said he only reports to the party chairman about his activities.

‘I’m sorry’

Later in the day, Vawda held a press conference at his residence where he apologised to people who suffered because of him. “It [traffic mess] is a mere misconception since traffic was already jammed after the oil tanker fire incident at Super Highway but the government put the blame on me to hide their negligence,” he claimed.

Vawda also denied any news regarding joining any other party and said he will remain a part of the PTI.

Vawda vs Naeem

Talking about PTI information secretary Naeemul Haq’s statement denouncing his protest, Vawda said Haq is only supposed to issue party statements instead of his opinion.

On the other hand, Haq told The Express Tribune that the statement issued by him came after observing the plight of the people of Karachi. He said he himself was stuck in traffic for four hours and had to listen to negative remarks about the party at the Karachi airport as well. Haq said that party has never supported protests which cause trouble to the general public. He added that there is no conflict about Vawda’s demands but he has an objection on the way he asked for it.

Meanwhile, some PTI leaders requesting anonymity said most party members ‘do not like Vawda’s style of doing things’, saying he recently gained prominence after going to London to submit documents against Altaf Hussain.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 9^th, 2016.