KARACHI: On the eve of first anniversary of May 9 incidents, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Wednesday accused the Pakistan Peoples Party-led Sindh government of launching a crackdown on the party across the city.

The party said raids were being carried out on workers’ homes, their families were being “harassed” and activists had been detained, but expressed the resolve that the party would not stop from taking to streets on Thursday [today] to exercise its constitutional and democratic right of peaceful protest and demonstration.

In an early-morning video statements, social media updates and messages to its workers, the Karachi leadership of the party came up with claims about pre-dawn raids on workers’ houses by police and detention of a number of activists and their family members.

The party alleged that the “harassment” was carried out on the behest of the PPP government.

In the video statement shared by the party on different social media platforms, PTI-Karachi president Raja Azhar said that the police had raided the houses of PTI leaders Sajjad Soomro, Saeed Afridi, Fahim Khan and Shahnawaz Jadoon.

“The police harassed their families when they weren’t found at home. Even they [the police] misbehaved with the women and children of the leaders. In one case, the police detained younger brother of Shahnawaz Jadoon and took him away. Our Safoora Town president was also arrested. It’s not policing but fascism on direct orders of PPP government and their leaders Bilawal Bhutto and CM Murad Ali Shah.”

He said the government had “labelled PTI workers as terrorists” and treating them as “anti-state elements” which was a sheer injustice as the workers and supporters of the party were the most patriotic citizens of Pakistan.

The party spokesperson, Fauzia Siddiqi, later in the evening said the police though released the Safoora Town president a few hours after the detention, law-enforcement agency kept raiding the houses of party workers even later in the day.

“We were seeing this coming [police raids on eve of May 9],” she told Dawn. “So the party has advised workers to adopt all precautionary measures.”

Dawn tried to contact senior police officials for their version, but there was no response .

Symbolic ‘Adiala Jail’

The Sindh chapter president of PTI Haleem Adil Sheikh, on the other hand, came with an idea to set up a “symbolic Adiala Jail” at the Insaf House headquarters in the metropolis.

Speaking at a press conference from behind the “symbolic bars”, he announced “peaceful protests” across the province on May 9.

“Staging peaceful protest is our legal right. There should be no restrictions,” he said, adding: “Those resorting to violence are criminals and must face consequences. Who’re the perpetrators of May 9 incidents? What was the role of Punjab police on that day?”

The PTI leader appealed to what he called institutions to identify Pakistan’s ewnemies. “We reject May 9 as a pretext to target PTI and Imran Khan that ultimately benefitted the PML-N and the PDM.”

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2024