HYDERABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s Senior Vice Chairman Sher Afzal Marwat addressed members of the Hyderabad District Bar Association (HDBA) and spoke to the media here on Monday to express his dismay over depriving his party of its electoral symbol, ‘bat’.

He alleged that institutions were facilitating pre-poll rigging. But results of the February 8 elections would be the same “as are evident” and that’s why efforts were under way to rig the polls, he added. He claimed that the entire country was supporting PTI.

Marwat also led a rally in the city before leaving for Mirpurkhas in a convoy.

Referring to SC’s verdict in the case of PTI’s electoral symbol, he said it would be disliked and remembered as unjust. He said PTI activists should face allegations but resist excesses. “We are being insulted. Those symbols are being allotted to us which can mislead our voters. I feel this will harm us as a party,” he said.

He rejected claims of a deal between PTI and the establishment having been in the offing. “Gone are the days”, he said, and argued that PTI chief had been imprisoned, its election symbols snatched and the party was being insulted. “What else remains for a deal now?” he wondered. He reiterated PTI’s resolve to fight till Feb 8 for its mandate.

Says his party not being allowed to hold public meetings, asks lawyers to raise voice against violation of fundamental rights

“We don’t trust any institution but we will not surrender,” he declared. He said PTI’s mandate was being stolen because it was going to win in the Feb 8 elections. PTI’s seats were being reduced but the party would not sit idle, he said.

Marwat pointed out: “We want to hold public meetings but are not being granted permission”. He challenged his party’s rivals by saying: “Let there be a malakhra (Sindh’s traditional wrestling) between PTI and all other parties.

While PTI was being restrained from holding gatherings of its supporters, [Pakistan Muslim League-Nawz supremo] Nawaz Sharif had not been able to hold a single public meeting in Lahore ever since his homecoming, he said. PTI was deprived of its seats in the 2018 elections and the same exercise was being repeated now for the upcoming elections, he added.

“Now PTI is not a vote or a party but a zidd [resolve] of the people of Pakistan,” he remarked.

Masses would prove on Feb 8 that election results would be same [in favour of PTI] regardless of all gimmicks and maneuverings.

Marwat alleged that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was committed to harm PTI.

He said that the Constitution binds down institutions to treat all Pakistani citizens equally. He recalled that the judiciary did not move when he was dragged [by police] for no reason. Then after five days, it had declared the [arrest] order against him unlawful and asked for his release.

The PTI leader said that society was witnessing violation of fundamental rights; and lawyers have to play a role. He expressed his resolve to drag in court those who had razed his house. “These people are tendering apology but I would send them behind bars,” he added.

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2024