KARACHI: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf on Sunday staged a big rally to express support for and solidarity with the armed forces. The participants chanted slogans describing certain opposition politicians as ‘traitors’ and demanding legal action against them under treason charges.

A large number of men, women and children had started gathering outside the Mazar-i-Quaid in the second half of the day from where the rally was to begin. Later, they marched up to Teen Talwar, Clifton, and reached here a little before sunset.

Riding cars, pick-ups, motorbikes and other vehicles, many of the emotionally charged participants in the rally were condemning anti-state elements while singing and dancing on the tunes of party songs en route to the Teen Talwar venue of a demonstration.

Throughout the march, they kept raising slogans in support of the armed forces.

Speaking to them at the demonstration, several PTI leaders strongly criticised Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).

The PTI leaders at the rally sounded furious and accused the PML-N and other PDM component parties of working to destabilise the government and to win anti-Pakistan forces’ support.

“Certain PDM leaders should be ashamed of their statements that have put the country’s security at risk,” said senior PTI leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Sindh Assembly Firdous Shamim Naqvi.

“They are maligning the armed forces and undermining its great achievements in fight against enemies just to appease their anti-Pakistan friends and to win their support to return to power. But let them know that the people of Pakistan are in inseparable bonds with the armed forces, which will not let them succeed in their evil designs.”

He claimed that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Sardar Ayaz Sadiq deliberately issued a statement against armed forces’, adding that his explanation would not work.

In his speech, PTI Karachi president MPA Khurram Sher Zaman claimed that the politics of the PDM was against the state.

“PDM leaders should be ashamed of their anti-state narrative. The statement of Ayaz Sadiq is continuation of Nawaz Sharif’s diatribe,” he said.

He said the armed forces had always offered great sacrifices for the nation and country.

“Today a large number of people belonging to all communities have joined the rally to show their anger over the agenda of Indian PM Modi,” he added.

He said the agenda of the PDM was against the state and armed forces but 60 million people of Sindh and people across Pakistan stood with the their own armed forces.

“The PDM has started targeting the armed forces at a time when we are facing multiple security and strategic issues,” said PTI MNA from Karachi Aftab Siddiqi. “Innocent people in the Indian-occupied Kashmir have been facing brutalities at the hands of Indian forces. They need our support more than ever before but our opposition leaders are busy appeasing Indian lobby just for political gains. The PDM is busy in dirty politics against armed forces.”

He said the PDM could go to any extent to achieve its desired results.

The PTI took the timely decision to hold rallies to promote of national and united narrative rejecting the one being portrayed by the opposition parties.

Addressing the rally, PTI MPA Shahzad Qureshi said that it was misleading to link the release of captured Indian pilot wing commander Abhinandan to anything other than a mature response from a responsible state.

“This huge power show by Karachiites proves that the voice and loyalty of the masses are with the state and their institutions,” he said.

The rally was also addressed by Karachi PTI’s senior vice president Mahmood Moulvi, general secretary Saeed Afridi, MPAs Jamal Siddiqui, Ars­alan Taj and Arsalan Faisal Mirza.

Published in Dawn, November 2nd, 2020