The rally in Karachi on October 18 will prove to be a “milestone and public referendum against the incompetent selected [Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf] government” said members of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), comprising all opposition parties, on Saturday.
They were addressing a press conference, following a meeting held in Karachi to discuss the arrangements for its October 18 rally to be held in Bagh-e-Jinnah.
Lambasting the Centre, they dubbed Prime Minister Imran Khan “the biggest corona[virus] in the country” who was not capable of eradicating the contagion. They also denounced the ban on TikTok imposed by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).
PDM rallies
Addressing the press conference, Sindh Education and Labour Minister Saeed Ghani said that the October 16 rally in Gujranwala and October 18 rally in Karachi were part of a nation-wide campaign launched against the “incompetent” PTI government.
Of these rallies, he said, the one in Karachi will prove to be a milestone.
Sharing details about the rally arrangements, he said a central organising committee, a media committee, a security committee and a traffic management committee, with the participation of all PDM parties, had been set up.
He further said that they had arranged for masks for those attending the October 18 rally and would ensure that seating arrangements corresponded with social distancing guidelines.
TikTok ban
The provincial minister also criticised the federal government for approving the ban on social media platform TikTok.
Replying to a question, he said the PTI itself had been producing and posting content on social media, yet it approved the blocking of TikTok.
Slamming the Centre
Ghani went on to lash out at the Centre over rising inflation in the country, saying that price-hike trends during the present government’s tenure had broken all previous records.
He held the PTI-led federal government responsible for rise in the prices of flour, wheat, sugar, electricity and gas.
“The country’s circular debt has increased to Rs2.4 trillion in just two years and the incumbent incompetent government has taken loans worth Rs12 trillion in as much time, further burdening the nation under the onus of debt,” he remarked.
Ghani claimed that the PM did not want any institution to remain un-embroiled in controversy. “It is the PM’s responsibility to stop institutions from interfering in politics unconstitutionally, but he himself has been discrediting institutions.
He also called out the PTI for denouncing others for carrying on with political activities amid the pandemic when it was doing the same.
Also speaking on the occasion, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s Sindh chapter president Syed Shah Muhammad Shah said people were not being provided relief in any part of the country.
“Be it the media, judges, industrialist, traders or labourers, no one is satisfied with this government,” he commented.
He said that since the PTI formed the federal government, the number of people living below the poverty line in the country had multiplied significantly and ineligible persons had wrongly claimed their rights over property and jobs, leaving millions homeless and jobless.
“But these rulers’ days are numbered as scores will be participating in the opposition’s protest rallies, proving that it is the people of this country who are the real democracy,” he added.
‘Paying homage to martyrs’
Ghani lauded PDM leaders belonging to parties other than the Pakistan Peoples Party [PPP] for holding a rally on October 18 - the day of the Karsaz bombings.
“The attack on the return of [former PM] Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto to Pakistan on October 18 claimed the lives of 166 PPP workers and left hundreds injured,” he said. “We hold a rally every year [on October 18] to pay homage to those martyrs and we are glad that this year, other PDM leaders will also be a part of the rally.”
Published in The Express Tribune, October 11th, 2020.
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