KARACHI: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Saturday announced “Black Day” on Feb 8 to mark the first year of “fraud general elections” held in 2024 and vowed to take out a rally in Karachi.

The event was announced by the Sindh chapter of the party at a press conference where the party leaders appealed the people of Karachi to come out of their homes in large numbers for a “peaceful protest against their stolen mandate”.

Haleem Adil Sheikh, president of PTI Sindh along with Karachi chapter president Raja Azhar and PTI core committee member Khurram Sher Zaman, also criticised the government for imposing restrictions on media and suppressing freedom of expression.

“After the Peca Act, an attempt has been made to control the society,” said Haleem Adil Sheikh.

“In this age, it’s not possible. First, we were oppressed, and now the media is being silenced. We stand in solidarity with the media’s protest and strongly oppose any conspiracy to stifle the voice of freedom.”

He recalled that on February 8 last year the future of the country was “compromised through electoral manipulation”. He claimed that the PTI’s mandate was stolen through Form-47, despite the public’s overwhelming support for the party.

Raja Azhar said that a huge rally would be taken out on Feb 8 where the people of Karachi “will give their verdict against the illegal government”.

“We will take to the streets on February 8 and the public will join us in large numbers to protest against the stolen mandate,” he added.

Khurram Sher Zaman criticised the government’s economic policies and challenged its claim about improvement in the economy.

“If the economy is improving, why are the prices of essential items are not decreasing? These incompetent rulers cannot fix the economy as they can only manipulate the numbers to build their fraud narrative,” he added.

Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2025