No rallies from Sindh, Balochistan for Azadi March

Local leaders say they have instructions to hold sit-ins in home districts

KARACHI:

In order to avoid further arrests, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leadership has stopped the party leaders and workers of Sindh and Balochistan from coming to Islamabad in the form of rallies and processions for the Azadi March, PTI officials told The Express Tribune.

PTI leadership of both the southern provinces have been asked to be ready for staging sit-ins at various places. These dharnas will be staged at the entry and exit points of major towns and cities and at public places.

As per PTI leaders in Karachi, if the PTI caravans are also stopped in Punjab, sit-ins will be staged in all the districts of the provinces besides the Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

PTI sit-ins will paralyse daily life across the major urban centres of the country by bringing to a standstill the inter-city and inter-provincial traffic movement, PTI officials explained.

The protest was meant to force the government to announce the date for the snap-polls, they said.

As per the plan of the PTI leadership, sit-ins will be staged at Karachi, Hyderabad, Nawabshah, Umerkot, Larkana and other districts.

Read More: Islamabad braces for PTI's long march as crackdown intensifies

In Balochistan, PTI supporters will block roads by sit-ins at Quetta, Pishin, Hub and other important districts.

The PTI leaders said there is no restriction on people reaching Islamabad individually for the Azadi March.

They said that the plan of top leaders of PTI is to hold country-wide sit-ins and protests to increase pressure on the government for holding early elections.

Owing to the strategy of PTI, no major rally left Karachi for the Azadi March. Moreover, the local PTI leadership has yet to mobilise and guide the party supporters for Azadi March, sources said. Most of the party workers contacted by The Express Tribune said they were waiting for the leadership to announce the future strategy.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 25^th, 2022.