The opposition parties on Friday took to the streets in various cities across Pakistan to put pressure on the government amid surging inflation in the country.
After the call to protest was given by the Opposition, protesters took to the streets in Karachi, Larkana, Lahore, Sukkur, Mardan, Jacobabad, Mohmand, Ziarat, Mingora and other cities of the country.
People shouted slogans against the government and rising inflation. Traffic at the Quetta-Chaman highway remained suspended for several hours due to the rally.
In Karachi, the demonstration started near the Empress Market area, due to which the surrounding roads had to be sealed.
In Lahore, PML-N members staged a protest against inflation at the Jain Mandir Chowk while carrying utility bills and pieces of rotis (bread) in their hands. Akin to that, party members in Muzaffargarh started a protest rally from Central Jamia Masjid to Qanwan Chowk. Members of the Jamaat-e-Islami also staged a protest in front of the Muzaffargarh Press Club during which they chanted slogans against inflation.
A large number of PML-N workers including PML-N leader Khawaja Saad Rafique, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Bilal Yaseen, Khawaja Imran, Hina Pervez Butt, Mian Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman participated in the protest rally, while anti-government slogans were chanted during the sit-in, electricity and gas bills were also burnt.
Addressing the protest rally, Rafique said that Imran Khan Niazi made people unemployed and made life difficult.
Addressing Niazi, Rafiq said, “What jobs did you have to give, what houses did you have to give? On the contrary, you have made people unemployed and robbed them of even a one-time bread. You first targeted political parties and made spectacle of NAB cases. Some had to endure one year, some one and a half years and some two and a half years not only in cases but also in jails. When all this was happening to us, there was no one to ask and no one to give justice. Nothing came out of all these cases and it was proved that all those cases were baseless and lies were told to the people.”
Rafiq further said that the punishments were given to Nawaz Sharif and Maryam so that these leaders would somehow get out of the country and politics but the political leadership is not afraid of such punishments.
“You (Imran Khan) can stop the election but you cannot stop us from ruling the hearts of the people. Our country is in the hands of clumsy people at the moment and these people have put the country on the path of destruction. The anchors who still tire of praising Imran Khan on TV are also responsible for this catastrophe. The country’s GDP has fallen, the CPEC has rolled back, the rupee has depreciated, the value of the dollar is skyrocketing. Pulses, flour, sugar, gas, electricity and petrol are not expensive but far from the reach of the people and now there is another wave of inflation,” he said.
Rafiq said that those who create the drama of ‘Absolutely Not’ have the shackles of IMF slavery around their necks.
“The chowks of Lahore are closed because you (Prime Minister) never fulfill the agreement you make. You lie, you deceive people, you make empty promises and you do not know about anything. You have left my well-to-do, prosperous Pakistan desolate,” he added.
Addressing the protest, Sardar Ayaz said that Imran Khan has to respond for the missing watch from Toshakhana and sewing machines.
“Niazi also has to respond to the Pandora Papers as his ministers and party members are also involved in this scandal. In the past, the sole purpose of making cases against Nawaz Sharif alone was to remove him, but he will definitely come to Pakistan,” he said.
PML-N’s Qari Saifullah Saifi led the protest in Murree. When protesters reached the city’s Mall Road, many tourists also joined in.
In Mardan, protesters started gathering at the city’s Kachehri Chowk, while in Gilgit, members of PML-N, as well as JUI, participated in the protest rally at Ittihad Chowk.
Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly and PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif appealed to the masses and asked them to join the protest against growing inflation in the country.
He maintained that giving more time to the government means that people of the country will have to face more troubles, more inflation, more unemployment.
“The economic condition of the country and its people would not improve unless we get rid of this tyrannical government,” said Shahbaz, as he directed party leaders of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) to ensure cooperation with civic and business organisations and people’s associations and appealed to the people to join the nationwide protests against inflation.
Earlier today, PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah had said that demonstrations will be held at Lahore’s Jain Mandir Chowk after Friday prayers. The former Punjab law minister invited labourers, traders, lawyers and other wings to support the Opposition’s protest.
“The masses will get relief only when this inept and corrupt government is sent packing,” said Sanaullah, urging people to come out of their homes and join in.
Separately, the PPP also held a protest in Karachi — led by Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah — against the rising inflation in the country. The protest was held in Karachi’s Malir district.
CM Shah, while addressing the participants of the protest, criticised the incumbent government and said: “Thieves of wheat and sugar should spare the poor masses. Only Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari can rid the poor of inflation.”
Addressing a protest gathering at Karachi’s Empress Market, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) general secretary Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri said that protests against inflation and the current government were a “public referendum”.
The JUI-F stood in solidarity with the poor, farmers and lawyers, he said, adding that party chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman — who is also the PDM president — had announced nationwide protests from October 20. “Protests against inflation will continue,” he vowed.
