KARACHI: Hundreds of workers of Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) led by its chief Manzoor Pashteen staged a rally from Sohrab Goth to the Sindh Assembly on Sunday demanding release of MNA Ali Wazir.

The participants in the rally staged a sit-in outside the Sindh Assembly building later in the evening.

Police placed barricades and containers in ‘red zone’, but allowed the rally to proceed towards the assembly building where it was turned into a sit-in. Adjoining roads including Sarwar Shaheed Road, Club Road and Dr Ziauddin Ahmed Road were closed to traffic due to security reasons.

The rally started from Sohrab Goth at around 3.30pm and after passing through its designated routes reached the Saddar area. A heavy contingent of police was present.

Initially, Deputy Commissioner-South Irshad Ali Sodhar and SSP-South Rai Ijaz Ahmed held talks with the PTM leaders and tried to prevent them from marching on the assembly.

The PTM leaders, however, contended that recently Jamaat-i-Islami was allowed to stage a prolonged sit-in outside the assembly and as to why they were being asked not to do so.

PTM leader Hidayatullah criticised the Pakistan Peoples Party for subjecting them to ‘cruelty’ by booking and arresting PTM leaders in false cases. He said when Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan’s leaders and workers were released, why the PTM leaders including MNA Wazir were not being released.

Manzoor Pashteen said that they were staging a sit-in for the release of MNA Ali Wazir. “The government calls itself a democratic one but we are not being allowed to exercise our democratic rights,” he observed.

He said their protest and sit-in would continue till the issuance of a notification for the release of Ali Wazir.

Sources said that provincial minister Nasir Shah contacted the PTM leaders over the phone and after that they were allowed to proceed further and stage a sit-in near the main gate of the Sindh Assembly.

PTM-Karachi leader Sher Mehsud said the government did not hold ‘serious talks’ with them and their sit-in would continue till fulfilment of their demands.

Published in Dawn, February 14th, 2022