LARKANA: Pakistan Peoples Party Sindh president Nisar Ahmed Khuhro has warned if rulers try to intercept or stop the party workers’ caravans from moving towards Multan they will stage sit-ins on roads and ensure their surroundings keep resonating with slogans of ‘Go Imran go’.

He said while speaking to workers who had gathered at his Larkana residence before setting out for Multan on Sunday that the scheduled public meeting of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) would be held in Multan against all odds.

He said that since the prime minister was witnessing imminent fall of his rule, which was already standing with the help of crutches, he was having nightmares. The boat of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s rule was fast sinking and it could no longer withstand the rising tide of opposition, he claimed.

He advised the prime minister to step down and pave the way for fresh election, otherwise, he would meet the same fate as retired Gen Pervez Musharraf.

Khuhro said that jiyalas, who had a long history of breaking down all barricades raised along their path by Martial Law authorities, would cross over all hurdles to reach the meeting venue.

He said the “selected” prime minister had now become “rejected” prime minister as he had opted for reactionary steps after observing degree of peoples’ emotions by stopping them from participating in the PDM’s public meeting. The steps this regime was taking were reminiscent of dictatorial rule, he said.

He said that if the prime minister was not afraid of opposition’s public meetings then why he was taking undemocratic measures to stop peoples’ participation in the Multan meeting.

He said that excessive use of police to erect obstacles at all the roads leading to Multan indicated the anticipation of success of PDM’s show had given the prime minister sleepless nights. Organising public meetings was their democratic right and the federal government could not snatch it through undemocratic actions, he said.

He said the “unprecedented” number of people in opposition’s public meetings should be taken as a vote against the federal government and PTI. It was a clear evidence of double standards that federal government had allowed its ministers to address public meetings but stopped opposition from holding similar gatherings, he said.

He drew comparisons between the steps taken in 1967 by the dictator when PPP was founded and the recent measures by PTI government, which were aimed at stopping people from attending Multan public meeting and said that workers were committed and they would brave all hurdles to reach the venue. The PTI-led government was only repeating history, he said.

‘Opposition’s public meets has unnerved regime’

HYDERABAD: PPP’s central information secretary Senator Maula Bux Chandio has said that arrest of Ali Qasim Gilani and PPP workers in Multan had proved that this government had been unnerved by the opposition’s protest.

In a statement issued here on Sunday he said that people had taken to the streets in Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab. When PTI government failed to prevent people from organising public meetings it turned to using brute force, he said.

He said that masses had done away with all bans imposed by the government. Imran Khan had instituted cases against opposition leaders like his favourite dictator Ayub Khan. When Ayub could not intimidate people how could Imran achieve the same through cruel measures, he asked.

He said that party workers were getting impatient to give a warm reception to their leader Aseefa Bhutto in Multan. She would lead the party workers in the absence of her brother. Z.A. Bhutto had once said that his wife, sons and daughters would stand by masses, he said.

He said that this family was living up to its tradition by leading people in all situations. After Benazir Bhutto, Asif Ali Zardari led people and now his daughter would lead masses in Multan, which amounted to a death knell for the “selected” government, he said.

He said that every government instituted cases against its opponents towards the end of its rule. This government had hired people for mudslinging of opponents but these tactics would not work anymore, he said.

Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2020