KARACHI: PTI leaders were resolute on Sunday to hold a public gathering at Mazar-i-Quaid in Karachi on Sunday after PTI alleged Sindh police raided Bagh-i-Jinnah — the earlier planned venue for the rally — on Saturday night and subjected party workers to violence.

The rally has been planned as part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa‘s three-day visit to Sindh, who is leading his party’s street mobilisation movement.

The visit began with his arrival in Karachi on Friday afternoon. He visited Hyderabad yesterday, and the PTI plans to conclude his visit with a public gathering in Karachi.

PTI spokesperson Mohammad Ali Bozdar said while speaking to Dawn that police had blocked roads and not allowing party workers to enter Bagh-i-Jinnah, where the government had allowed the party to hold the rally.

The KP CM would now arrive at Mazar-i-Quaid at 3pm, he said, reiterating his allegation that police had blocked roads in various areas and were preventing PTI workers from reaching the venue.

The PTI also said in a post on its X account at around 8am on Sunday that the party’s public gathering would be held at Mazar-i-Quaid at 2pm.

PTI Sindh President Haleem Adil Sheikh also said in a video statement that the rally would definitely be held at Mazar-i-Quaid today.

Criticising the Sindh government for allegedly blocking the rally, he recalled the Sindh Labour Minister Saeed Ghani had welcomed the KP CM at the Karachi airport and presented a Sindh cap and Ajrak to him.

“Was that a pretence?” he questioned, slamming the Sindh government for its “shamelessness”.

On the party‘s decision to hold a gathering outside one of the gate’s of Mazar-i-Quaid, he said, “Holding a rally at a public gate does not block any route.”

The party initially planned to hold the rally at Bagh-i-Jinnah, and the PPP-led Sindh government had even issued a no-objection certificate for it despite objections from the PML-N.

But the PTI blamed the Sindh administration for “wasting their time” and announced that the public meeting would now be held in front of the Quaid’s mausoleum.

In a late-night development, PTI spokesperson Fauzia Siddiqui posted on X that the Sindh government wasted their time as the deputy commissioner East had issued a no-objection certificate (NOC) on Saturday evening at 6:30pm.

“The public power witnessed in Karachi yesterday has frightened them; they don’t understand what to do now. The people of Karachi will be at the Mazar-i-Quaid public gate at 2pm with our guest, chief minister of KP, Sohail Afridi. We will hold a public meeting at the VIP gate at 2pm,” she stated.

But Sindh Home Minister Zia Lanjar warned of strict action if any public meeting was held on the road. “No one is allowed to challenge the writ of the government,” he said in a statement.

Later, Sheikh posted on X that the rally would be held at Bagh-i-Jinnah, but the venue again seems to have been changed, going by the PTI’s latest post.

PTI later alleged that authorities had raided Bagh-i-Jinnah, violated PTI workers to violence and arrested several party workers.

Party spokesperson Bozdar alleged while speaking to Dawn that when workers reached Bagh-i-Jinnah around 2am on Sunday for rally arrangements and preparations, around 15 to 20 police mobiles reached the spot and law enforcement personnel resorted to baton-charge. They detained over over a dozen PTI workers, he claimed.

In one of her posts at around 4:30am, Siddiqui said that containers had been parked around Jinnah Ground and police personnel were present at the site in large numbers.

In another post, she alleged police had “attacked” Bagh-i-Jinnah, arrested several PTI workers and their belongings had been confiscated.

Similarly, Sheikh said in a post on X at around 2:30am that “this fascism against peaceful workers was unfortunate. The PPP and Sindh government, which harp about democracy, should feel ashamed“.

In other posts, he decried the “police raid at Bagh-i-Jinnah” and claimed PTI workers had been subjected to violence.

In his video statement today, he alleged the NOC for the rally was deliberately delayed, further questioning that when the Sindh government granted permission for the rally, “why was our vendor beaten and made to flee?”

He decried that the PPP was no longer late prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s party.

PTI Karachi President Raja Azhar and Faheem Khan also said in a statement that a public gathering would be held at Mazar-i-Quaid at 3pm.

“Police brutality and blocking of roads cannot dampen the morale of the people,” Azhar said, adding that the rally would prove to be the “public’s referendum against cruelty”.

Similarly, Fakeem Khan urged people to participate in the rally and termed the alleged blocking of roads “an attack on the rights of the people”.

PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja spoke to the media at the Karachi Press Club today, where he decried the “barbarity” that PTI members had been subjected to.

“Cars were smashed, and two dozen members have been detained unlawfully. A lawyer of ours was detained this morning at Bagh-i-Jinnah. It is cordoned off by police right now,” he said , adding that the PTI had the NOC for the rally.

“So the rally will happen,” he asserted, without mentioning any venue.

In response to a Dawn query, police sources denied detaining any PTI workers this morning and said they just removed them from Mazar-i-Quaid. The sources said police took action to disperse the party workers, alleging that they had blocked a main artery.

The sources also said thta while there would be no restriction on the movement of KP CM Afridi, PTI workers would not be allowed at Mazar-i-Quaid.

KP CM claims routes blocked

Earlier, KP CM claimed in a post on X that “upon my return from Hyderabad, all routes for me and my entire team have been blocked. For the past four hours, I’ve been switching between different routes. At 4:23am, we’ve now set off toward Karachi on a deserted road“.

“The Sindh government is not only playing with my life but also with the lives of my team,” he said, warning that the precedent of the treatment being meted out to the CM of one province in other provinces would “prove highly detrimental in the near future”.

“Pakistan belongs to all of us. Do not spread so much hatred here to such an extent that it becomes impossible to return from that point. Fake democratic forces are not leaving any stone unturned in this. This is extremely shameful,” he said.

Later, in a video message shared on PTI’s X account, the CM said: “We reached Karachi around 7:15pm […] We will definitely hold a rally today. It took us seven and a half hours to reach Karachi from Hyderabad.

“They had blocked the route at different places and we were compelled to travel on a deserted route. This was tantamount to putting my and my team’s lives at risk, as anything could have happened there.”

He urged Karachiites to come out for the rally today, adding that “they (the Sindh government) are afraid of the rally, but it will be held”.

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