PTI General Secretary Salman Akram Raja addresses a press conference in Islamabad on Wednesday, flanked by Tehreek-e-Tahafuz-e-Ayin-e-Pakistan Vice President, Senator Allama Raja Nasir Abbas and PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar. SCREEN CAPTURE
ISLAMABAD:
Even as the administration takes steps to tighten security and curb mobilization to deter the opposition’s strike call, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its allied opposition platform, Tehreek-e-Tahafuz Ayeen-e-Pakistan (TTAP), on Saturday reaffirmed their determination to go ahead with their planned protest and strike across the country, framing February 8 (today) as a Black Day and a Day of Mourning.
The government launched an offensive against PTI workers and leaders, who have gone underground to avoid arrests. Furthermore, the administration also imposed Article 144.
In a joint press conference with senior opposition leaders, Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas lamented that the attack, carried out during prayers inside a mosque, betrayed the state’s failure to protect its citizens.
He said innocent worshipers, including university students, were martyred in the explosion, pointing out that the tragedy took place in the heart of the federal capital and not in any remote or conflict-affected region.
“This was an attack carried out while people were prostrate,” Abbas said, adding that for decades, Pakistanis had grown up witnessing bodies fall to terrorism.
He lamented that celebrations were often held over the dead bodies of ordinary citizens and questioned the purpose of the ongoing security operations, asking where and how such operations were actually being carried out.
Rejecting any sectarian framing of the violence, Abbas emphasized that there was no division between Shiites and Sunnis in the country and accused hostile elements of deliberately seeking to pit the communities against each other.
He argued that until power was transferred to the people, conditions would not improve. Announcing the opposition’s programme, he said that February 8 would be celebrated as “Youm-e-Siyah” (Black Day) and “Youm-e-Sog” (Day of Mourning), while a nationwide protest would be held on the following Friday.
PTI leader Salman Akram Raja said February 8, 2024 marked the imposition of what he described as a system of injustice and deceit. Calling the current moment one of collective pain, he said that the opposition stood alongside the oppressed and would express its rejection of those he called “thieves” who had usurped the public mandate.
“Our voice has been stolen,” Raja said, adding that a system based on oppression could not endure. He maintained that the protest would also be a rejection of all the forces that act against the State and the constitutional order.
Former National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser said more than 3,000 Pakistanis had fallen victim to terrorism in just one week, declaring that the government had completely failed in its primary responsibility of providing security.
He urged authorities to focus on governance rather than trying to break up political parties, and reiterated that Shiites and Sunnis remained united in the country.
Qaiser stressed the need for constitutional and legal supremacy and confirmed that the protests would go ahead as planned.
Former senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar said there was hardly a day without a violent incident in the country, adding that serious questions demanded serious answers. He criticized the culture of issuing religious verdicts against political opponents and said such divisions must be dismantled.
Warning that failure to unite would lead to recurring bloodshed, Khokhar called for an All Party Conference (APC) to forge a consensus policy against terrorism. He said the country was facing simultaneous challenges of economic collapse and deterioration in law and order, pointing to Balochistan, where violence was followed by routine political transitions without accountability.
He called on the public to stay home on February 8, observe a day of mourning and express their disagreement peacefully.
TTAP chief and leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, sounded a cautionary note, urging moderation and reflection. He said the country was reaping what it had sown by turning Pakistan into a battlefield for others’ wars, recalling the long-term consequences of the Afghan conflict and the killing of more than 1,300 tribal elders in former Fata.
Achakzai said coercion had no place in religious or political affairs and argued that Pakistan’s crisis was the result of its own collective actions, involving not only politicians but also institutions such as the army and the bureaucracy. He stated that the country’s 250 million inhabitants had been intimidated at gunpoint and that injustice could not sustain a State.
Pointing to disparities in compensation, he said those who sold loyalty were rewarded with billions, while the poor received token payments after losing their lives. Addressing the police forces of Punjab and Sindh, he urged them not to act as “slaves” but to support the people.
Achakzai appealed to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to join the nation’s mourning and urged citizens to avoid emotional reactions, insisting that the protest would remain peaceful.
