PTI stages rally against price hike, economic crisis in Karachi

Published February 27, 2023
Charged workers of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf participate in a rally at Liaquatabad on Sunday.—Shakil Adil/ White Star
Charged workers of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf participate in a rally at Liaquatabad on Sunday.—Shakil Adil/ White Star

KARACHI: The opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Sunday staged a big rally against growing inflation in the country and announced that it would build a mom­entum from Karachi that would lead to the fall of the “imported government”.

A large number of PTI workers and supporters, including women and children, took out smaller rallies from different parts of the city to reach Liaquatabad, where the main rally turned into a protest demonstration.

Carrying placards, portraits of Imran Khan and party flags, the workers shouted slogans against the Pakistan Democratic Movement-led coalition government at the Centre for hatching “conspiracies against PTI leadership and totally ignoring the current economic crisis.

However, the protest rally caused a traffic mess on Shahrah-i-Pakistan and adjoining arteries since the Liaquatabad flyover and the road leading to Dakkhana flyover were closed for vehicular traffic.

Addressing the demonstration, party leaders vowed that the workers were ready for the court arrest in line with PTI’s countrywide campaign.

“The workers of Karachi aren’t afraid of arrests and they are ready for any sacrifice,” said PTI Karachi chapter president Aftab Siddiqi. “People of Karachi know that the so-called democratic parties are not their true representatives. This protest demonstration against inflation and imported government is just a reflection of people’s trust on PTI and Imran Khan.”

He said everyone witnessed how the “so-called champions of democracy” were creating hurdles so that the PTI could not emerge as the representative party of Karachi.

In a thinly veiled reference to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakis­tan, he said that the people of Karachi would reject all those who had failed them time and again.

Speaking on the occasion, Leader of the Opposition in the Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh said that the “imported government” had destroyed the national economy and pushed the people to hunger and unemployment.

“This imported government has badly damaged the economy and now economic genocide of traders is being carried out,” he said. “In Karachi alone, 95pc factories of iron and steel have been closed, while several factories of shoe making, plastic products manufacturing, medicine, confectionery items and toys are on the verge of closing down.”

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2023

Opinion

Editorial

Personal priorities
Updated 21 Mar, 2025

Personal priorities

Pet projects launched by govt often found to be poorly conceived, ripe for exploitation, misaligned with country’s overall development priorities.
Inheritance rights
21 Mar, 2025

Inheritance rights

THE Federal Shariat Court’s ruling that it is un-Islamic to deprive a woman of her right to inheritance is a...
Anti-Muslim actions
21 Mar, 2025

Anti-Muslim actions

MUSLIMS in India have endured incessant scrutiny of their nationalism. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ...
Victim complex
Updated 20 Mar, 2025

Victim complex

If New Delhi is sincere about bringing peace to South Asia, let it agree to an unconditional dialogue with Islamabad about all irritants.
LSM decline
20 Mar, 2025

LSM decline

THE slump in large-scale manufacturing amidst the adjustments the economy is forced to make in order to stay afloat...
Education interrupted
20 Mar, 2025

Education interrupted

THE sudden closure of major universities in Balochistan, ostensibly due to ‘security concerns’, marks another...