Questioning the leaders: QAT stages sit-in against corruption, terrorism and extremism

Most roads leading to Abdullah Shah Ghazi's shrine were closed.

KARACHI: The Qaumi Awami Tehreek (QAT) held a two-day sit-in outside Abdullah Shah Ghazi's shrine in Clifton against corruption, terrorism and extremism, amid tight security.

Scores of party workers, including women and children, gathered at the shrine, shouting slogans against the Sindh government, corruption and terrorism. Police had been deployed at the site, while most of the roads coming to the shrine were blocked, creating hurdles for commuters without creating alternate routes.



Speaking to the participants of the sit-in, party president Ayaz Latif Palijo alleged that the provincial ruling party and top police officials had warned him not to stage the sit-in in Clifton or anywhere near Bilawal House. "Extremists and separatists are facilitated but those who raise their voices against corruption and terrorism have been asked to keep away," alleged Palijo.

Palijo said that a police DIG told him the previous night not to come to Karachi, as the law and order situation was not favourable. "Police have lodged fake FIRs against an aged worker of our party," he claimed. He said that QAT workers were not afraid of FIRs, jail or torture. "Karachi is ours. No one can stop us."

Criticising government, Palijo said that the founding fathers of Pakistan did not struggle for the country the rulers have made it into today. "Is this democracy?" he questioned. "People of Pakistan are being deceived by the ruling elite. Women are being insulted, while billions of rupees are being transferred out of the country," he alleged.

Palijo urged the federal and provincial governments to accept the resignations tendered by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). "The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the MQM are anti-Pakistan parties. Both have fake mandates," he said, adding that the common man is not happy with these parties.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 15^th, 2015.