PTI set to hold public meeting in Karachi

RECORDER REPORT

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is all set to go ahead with its planned public meeting in Karachi on December 25, saying Sindh High Court had not barred the party from holding a public meeting outside the Quaid-e-Azam Mazar.

PTI, which has been campaigning aggressively to promote the rally, suffered a setback when the SHC disposed of a petition against the meeting, and said that the permission for it could only be granted by the Quaid-e-Azam Mazar Management Board (QMMB).

When contacted PTI Secretary General Dr Mumtaz Alvi said that Sindh government submitted wrong information in response to the petition, as the party had never said it would hold the meeting inside the mausoleum.  He also said that the court had not issued any directives to take permission from the QMMB management for the public meeting. Alvi categorically said that the public meeting would be held, as planned, on December 25 on the ground adjacent to Quaid-e-Azam's mausoleum, which is public property and nobody can stop them.

He went on to say that the idea was not to overshadow the Quaid's birthday. "We are actually celebrating the Quaid's birthday, not overshadowing it...we are trying to remind people about Jinnah's message... unity, faith and discipline", he added.

He said that even if the garden falls in the jurisdiction of QMMB, it would be sorted out. "It is not a big deal...the meeting will be held against all odds", he added.

Dr Alvi said that perhaps the government did not want to cooperate with the PTI as it was becoming a big power player in the country. Party workers have been ordered to start cleaning the plot two days before the meeting, he said.

Meanwhile, it was also learnt that the mausoleum management is immensely under pressure from a Sindh-based political party not to grant permission to PTI for the procession to be held on December 25.