Against the tide : Weekend protest to be held at all costs: PTI

Imran Khan will be present on both days, says Karachi chapter president.

KARACHI:

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) is determined to organise its sit-in protest this weekend in Karachi even if they have to do it on their own. The president of the PTI Karachi chapter, Naeemul Haq, said this at a press conference on Monday.

The sit-in will be staged at Keamari road near Karachi Port Trust (KPT) Bridge, on May 21 and 22. Haq said activists and supporters from across Sindh were expected to take part. “PTI chief Imran Khan would be present on both days,” he stressed.

Haq said that people needed to unite and speak openly all the more as crime was going up in cities and the country was engulfed in a crisis. He added that the country has become more of a “problem-istan” than what was envisioned at the time of independence.

All Pakistan Goods Transport Welfare Association members were accompanying Haq.  The association volunteered to support and participate in the sit-in. However, it also had issues of its own to discuss with the media.

Its head, Khan Dil Khan, said that more than fearing prices, he fears for the lives of transporters who cross the Afghan border. “I want to request the government to end the Afghan Transit Trade Agreement because our transporters are constantly attacked by militants on the way. The government should either provide us with security or end this system completely.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 17^th, 2011.