'Shut Karachi for a week, they will hold your feet': CM Afridi urges people to join September 27 protest

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Monday urged the people of Sindh to join the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's September 27 protest, calling for a week-long shutdown of Karachi.

“I am inviting you to the September 27 protest. But you have to sit with us. You don't have to come to D-Chowk. Come with us to Karachi. For a week, Karachi should be closed. They will hold your feet. I am writing it down for you,” Afridi said while addressing lawyers at a convention held in Karachi under the Sindh High Court Bar Association.

Afridi’s convoy reached Karachi in the early hours of Monday after a journey of more than six hours. The PTI rally in Karachi was thrown into uncertainty on Sunday after authorities blocked several key arteries, causing massive traffic disruption across the city and delaying his arrival. However, Afridi vowed to reach Karachi and launch a street movement, saying he would not leave Sindh until the objective was achieved.

Afridi, along with PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, Karachi Bar Association President Aamir Nawaz and other leaders, addressed the convention. Lawyers were also present on the occasion.

Addressing the gathering, Afridi said the “tyrants” who considered themselves above the law would continue to prevail unless people stood up against them.

“But we have won only once. We have to try once. We have to stand up for ourselves and our children,” he said.

Afridi then spoke about PTI founder Imran Khan, saying there was no need to worry about him as he could be released within half an hour.

“Imran can sit in power. He can leave the country. His popularity is so high that no one can win elections against Imran. He can come back as prime minister. But he is not making a deal because he knows that leaders are born once in a century,” he said.

The K-P chief minister said Pakistan had never had a leader like Imran, adding that the PTI founder was not giving up despite the “cruel regime”.

“It is our duty to stand up for ourselves, for our children, for our Pakistan and for the people of Pakistan. On September 27, you will see the revolution of the people. You will see a sea,” Afridi said.

He said people from across Pakistan would come out on September 27, claiming that no one would be able to win an election against PTI in Sindh for the next 30 years.

“The passion of the people that I have just seen in Sindh was not in K-P before 2013. This is something else. These are the scenes of the revolution. God willing, the time has come to change the history and destiny of Sindh,” he said.

Afridi further added that the “thieves” would run away from Sindh and that “only Imran will rule Sindh.”

The chief minister said the people of Sindh were brave, courageous and sincere, but were unfortunate to be ruled by what he described as “this kind of shamelessness”.

He said that while Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had welcomed him in a post on X, pits had allegedly been dug along the route and containers placed to block his way.

Afridi said Bilawal, as chairman of the party, perhaps had authority over Sindh’s ministers, but questioned how his directives could be ignored by those serving under him.

“Workers are being arrested. Our mothers and sisters are being disrespected here. Either there is someone else’s government in Sindh, or yours is not,” he said.

The chief minister also said he had witnessed resentment among the people of Sindh over what he called the province’s “division”.

“So, I announce from here that I will stand with the people of Sindh, God willing. And a young tribal man also promises you that if blood has to be shed for the rights of Sindh, then the sea of Karachi will first taste the drop of blood of Sohail Afridi,” he said.

Afridi continued his criticism, saying that the two political families were “untouchable”.

“First the grandfather, then the daughter, then the husband, then the son, then the daughter, then the sister. Maybe there is something else, I don't know. You know better. First the brother, then his brother, then Nawaz Sharif, then Shehbaz Sharif, then Hamza Shehbaz, then Maryam Nawaz, and now their children,” Afridi said.

The chief minister contrasted this with K-P, saying that the province had an Imran-led government and that he himself had no political background.

“Who am I? I have no political background. I am middle class, like you, an ordinary young man who used to attend gatherings, travel in taxis, buses and rickshaws. I have come up through these roads, from the grassroots level of my political struggle. I am not even a relative of Imran,” Afridi said.