Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Sunday hailed the people of Sindh for their support as he addressed a PTI rally at Mazar-i-Quaid with hundreds in attendance. The Sindh government had permitted the PTI to hold a rally at Bagh-i-Jinnah. However, the PTI, citing a delay in receiving the permit, earlier announced it would organise the gathering at one of the gates of Mazar-i-Quaid. The rally has been planned as part of the KP CM’s four-day visit to Sindh, who is leading his party’s street mobilisation movement. “We can never forget the respect we received from the people of Sindh, but you all must not forgive the Sindh government for the respect they have shown towards the Sindhi cap and Ajrak,” CM Afridi said while addressing a huge crowd near Mazar-i-Quaid. Earlier, police detained multiple PTI workers at Karachi’s Numaish Chowrangi after clashes erupted near Bagh-e-Jinnah ahead of the party’s public gathering. The police officials said that more than 30 workers were taken into custody after the clashes, during which protesters allegedly beat up a policeman. According to the police, the detained PTI workers were shifted into a prisoners’ van following their arrest at the intersection. Footage circulating on the internet shows protesters stopping a police vehicle and pelting it with stones near Bagh-e-Jinnah. Police resorted to shelling to disperse PTI workers who had gathered in the area, while separate disturbances were also reported at the VIP gate of Mazar-e-Quaid, where scuffles broke out between protesters and law enforcement. Police officials said that further action would be taken against those identified in the stone-pelting incidents.
PPP’s Nasir Shah ‘apologises’
Sindh Local Government Minister Nasir Hussain Shah on Sunday tendered an apology to Sohail Afridi for any “unpleasant incident” that he may have faced during his ongoing visit to Sindh. “I personally apologise if something [unpleasant] happened somewhere, as this should not happen,” Shah said during media programme. ”He is the chief minister of a province and whatever we did, the welcome and all, was in respect of the people of KP as he had their mandate,” the PPP leader added.