TTAP spokesperson Akhundzada Hussain. Photo: archive
LAHORE:
Tehreek-e-Tahafuz Ayeen-e-Pakistan (TTAP) will hold its second meeting on Monday (today) to finalize arrangements for February 8, as signs emerge of a tactical shift away from street agitation towards more calibrated ways of recording protests, according to sources within Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
The evolving approach comes amid increased state scrutiny and internal assessments of mobilization capacity, prompting the alliance to reassess how best to mark the anniversary of the general election, which it alleges was marred by widespread fraud.
While February 8 remains central to the TTAP’s political message, sources suggest the method of protest is still jealously maintained.
TTAP spokesperson Akhundzada Hussain, speaking to The Express PAkGazette, confirmed that a meeting of TTAP leaders would be held at Mehmood Khan Achakzai’s residence around 2 pm to finalize the February 8 mass protest plan against the alleged fraud.
When asked about the apparent change in approach, he said mass protests and rallies were not planned for now, although the final decision rested with TTAP chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai.
When asked if this meant there would be no activity on the streets and highways, he said they would “keep the plan close to the chest.”
He added that given the regressive injunctions against the PTI by the State in an attempt to strangle their plans, they could not afford to make everything public beforehand.
Akhundzada said his focus at this stage was on wheel jams and closures across the country.
He said whatever the finalized plan was, a decision had been made to set the “wheels in motion” a day before “D-Day.”
He said this would be the second meeting on February 8 and it would be attended by TTAP chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai, PTI chief Barrister Gohar, Salman Akram Raja, Allama Raja Nasir, Muhammad Zubair and Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar.
A source within the PTI said that, for now, no preparations had been made for any street movement, indicating a change in policy or, more clearly, the realization that ground support worthy of mobilization is running out.
“We have the entire public behind us, the entire country knows that the elections were rigged, so what?” he said, adding that the public did not matter in the existing power equation.
He said the fact of the matter was that the PTI wanted to see what Achakzai planned for February 8, as “now it will be his show, not just the PTI’s.”
The PTI, he said, would be one of its members.
He added that Mehmood Khan Achakzai’s real use was not to lead a street movement but to find a way out of the “dead end” in which the PTI was trapped.
The source said adopting a safer route on February 8 would be a smart move and the focus should instead be on a backdoor compromise to create some political space for the PTI.
He said protests in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa alone would not mean much, while any attempt at a street movement in Punjab could have catastrophic results, given what he called the state’s unbridled use of power against the party.
