PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf workers from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, who enthusiastically joined the march on Islamabad, expressed anger and disappointment over the “lack of interest” shown by the party’s leadership from Punjab and some leaders from KP in the protest.

“Our boys are very angry and frustrated with the poor performance of our Punjab leadership,” a party worker told Dawn.

He wondered whether it was solely the responsibility of Pakhtuns to bring about a political change in the country.

Another disgruntled worker complained that not only was the Punjab leadership missing from the Islamabad protest but workers from the province, too, were absent.

Workers also complain most party leaders from KP restricted themselves to social media posts

He said though Punjab made up half of the country’s population, its representation in the Islamabad protest was negligible.

“Only a handful of people from Punjab were seen in the march on Islamabad,” he said.

Regarding the PTI’s KP leadership, the PTI worker said that the majority of ministers, MNAs and MPAs from the province were present in the Islamabad protest but their role was not “as active as expected.”

He said that a large number of workers had no contact with families, which contacted party leaders in Peshawar, while mobile phone and WhatsApp service were also unavailable.

Another PTI worker said that some top leaders of the party uploaded their videos about the protest but they were not present on the ground.

“Our Punjab leadership and workers had disappointed us because workers from Chitral, the far-off district in KP, reached Islamabad but the leaders and workers from Punjab were absent. Hammad Azhar showed up only on the last day of the protest,” he said.

The worker complained that big guns from KP’s participation were limited to the social media posts.

“Where were you in the hour of need? You need to get a new identity. PTI is dead,” a party worker asked former KP minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra on a post on X platform.

Another user said that Mr Taimur was accompanied by former president Dr Arif Alvi in the same car on the way to Islamabad but both of them were later not seen in the protest.

“And you failed them [workers]! By leaving them at the mercy of vultures! You didn’t provide any leadership! Imran Khan used to sit at the time of shelling in 2024 dharna. PTI leadership is compromised, incompetent and cowardly,” another worker noted.

Senior PTI leader and former minister Shaukat Yousafzai also criticised the senior leadership in a video message.

He claimed that no worker would have been killed or injured had the venue of the sit-in been changed as agreed upon by PTI founder Imran Khan.

“In what capacity Bushra Bibi has opposed Imran Khan’s decision regarding the relocation of the protest site from D Chowk to Sangjani. Now, questions have been raised that the PTI is being run by Bushra Bibi or the party’s leadership,” he said.

Mr Yousafzai said if the leadership had no power to take vital decisions, then it should resign.

He added that most of the senior leadership was absent from the ground when the protest reached D Chowk in Islamabad.

“People who led the party have failed to lead convoys from different parts of the country,” he said.

The PTI leader wondered where party chairman Barrister Gohar Ali and general secretary Salman Akram Raja were during the Islamabad protest.

Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2024