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• TTAP chief asks people to join street movement, says alliance is against those who violate Constitution
• PTI accuses Punjab police of crackdown, claims workers picked up in raids
LAHORE: The opposition alliance on Thursday urged the nation and political parties to support its wheel-jam and shutter-down strike to mark the second anniversary of the Feb 8 elections, saying the protest would also pave the way for talks with the government.
Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai, who led a caravan from Islamabad to Lahore, made these remarks in the provincial capital, where he had arrived to mobilise the party supporters for the Feb 8 protest call.
On the other hand, the PTI accused the Punjab police of a crackdown on its supporters ahead of the Achakzai visit, saying its workers were rounded up by the police in late-night raids while the caravan was also attacked by ‘masked individuals’ on its way to the provincial capital.
Speaking to reporters, Mr Achakzai said a powerful protest would exert pressure on the government to hold talks with the opposition and release its leader, Imran Khan.
“Slogans alone will not help release PTI founder Imran Khan from jail, but people rising up on February 8 and bringing the country to a standstill will,” he said, urging the public to rise to get rid of parliament ‘thrust’ upon the country.
Answering a question about the dialogue process, Mr Achakzai said the path to dialogue would open when the country shuts down on Feb 8. “Whom should we engage in dialogue with? They (federal government) snatched our mandate, the courts snatched the PTI’s election symbol, and sentenced political leaders and workers to 10 to 20 years in jail,” he said.
Mr Achakzai said people from Bajaur to Peshawar should come out on the roads on February 8 and participate in the ‘Aman March’, holding black flags to show that they have come out to end oppression and fascism in the country.
‘End oppression’
“We have come to Lahore, urging people to join hands, to end the oppression being unleashed against innocent people in the country,” Mr Achakzai said.
“We are not against [Prime Minister] Shehbaz Sharif or [President] Asif Zardari, but we stand against those political parties and state institutions desecrating the Constitution of Pakistan,” he said.
He also regretted that the party, which raised slogans “roti, kapra aur makan” (bread, clothes and a home) was “busy damaging the Constitution through the 26th and 27th amendments”.
Stating that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had also marched on GT Road and raised the slogan “vote ko izzat do” (respect the vote), he urged the Sharif family to come out on the roads and raise this slogan again. The TTAP chairman said the country would be saved and progress would be made when the Constitution was restored.
Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM) chief Raja Nasir Abbas said that no justice could be dispensed without restoring the rule of law in the country. “The incumbent rulers want to prolong their rule by terrorising people,” he claimed, adding that people should stand against oppression and “defeat the fascists”.
‘Crackdown’
The PTI, in a statement, claimed that “multiple members of delegations present peacefully along the route of the caravan” were being taken into custody. “Peaceful citizens and party workers, who are unarmed and pose no threat of any kind, are being subjected to extremely brutal behaviour by the fascist police acting on political orders,” it alleged.
Furthermore, the opposition alliance also claimed that ‘dozens’ of MWM workers were arrested in Lahore, including Senior Vice President Syed Hussain Kazmi. PTI Punjab chief organiser Aliya Hamza Malik instructed the party’s lawyers wing to lodge first information reports against police raids, which violated people’s privacy and damaged property, including vehicles in police stations.
PTI senior leader Asad Qaiser strongly condemned the vandalism against the TTAP convoy’s vehicles by “masked individuals”, terming the Punjab government “fascist”.
“In our opinion, Mian sahib (Nawaz Sharif), who used to harp on about democracy and consider himself a champion of democracy, [why] is he silent on this?” Mr Qaiser asked, adding that Mr Achakzai was among the PML-N president’s “old friends”.
Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2026
