PTI General Secretary Salman Akram Raja addresses a press conference in Islamabad on Wednesday, accompanied by Vice President Tehreek-e-Tahafuz-e-Ayin-e-Pakistan, Senator Allama Raja Nasir Abbas and PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar. SCREENSHOT
ISLAMABAD:
Even as the administration moves to beef up 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 resolve to continue with their planned nationwide protest and strike, making February 8 (today) both a Day black and a Day of Mourning.
The government launched a crackdown against PTI workers and leaders, who went underground to avoid arrest. In addition, the administration has also imposed Section 144.
Addressing a joint press conference alongside 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 inability to protect its citizens.
He said innocent worshipers, including university students, were killed in the blast, stressing that the tragedy occurred in the heart of the federal capital and not in an isolated or conflict-affected region.
“This is an attack carried out while people were lying prostrate,” Abbas said, adding that for decades Pakistanis had grown up seeing bodies fall into the hands of terrorism.
He lamented that celebrations were often held around the corpses of ordinary citizens and questioned the purpose of ongoing security operations, asking where and how these operations were actually carried out.
Rejecting any sectarian definition of violence, Abbas stressed that there was no division between Shiites and Sunnis in the country and accused hostile elements of deliberately seeking to pit communities against each other.
He argued that until power was transferred to the people, conditions would not improve. Announcing the opposition programme, he said February 8 would be both ‘Youm-e-Siyah’ (Black Day) and ‘Youm-e-Sog’ (Day of Mourning), while a nationwide protest would be held 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 deception. Describing the present moment as one of collective mourning, he said the opposition stood with the oppressed and would express its rejection of what he called “thieves” who have usurped public office.
“Our voice has been stolen,” Raja said, adding that a system based on oppression could not last. He said the protest would also be a rejection of all forces acting against the state and constitutional order.
Former National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser said more than 3,000 Pakistanis fell victim to terrorism in just one week, saying the government had completely failed in its primary responsibility to provide security.
He urged authorities to focus on governance rather than trying to break up political parties, reiterating 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 hardly a day goes by without violent incidents in the country, adding that serious questions demand serious answers. He criticized the culture of issuing religious verdicts against political opponents and said such divisions must be dismantled.
Warning that failure of unity would lead to recurring bloodshed, Khokhar called for an all-party conference (APC) to forge a consensual policy against terrorism. He said the country was simultaneously facing the challenges of economic collapse and deteriorating law and order, citing 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 peacefully express their dissent.
TTAP leader and leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, sounded a warning, calling for restraint and reflection. He said the country was reaping what it had sown by turning Pakistan into a battleground for other people’s wars, recalling the long-term fallout of the Afghan conflict and the killing of over 1,300 tribal elders in ancient 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 military and the bureaucracy. He claimed that the country’s 250 million people had been intimidated at gunpoint and that injustice could not sustain a state.
Highlighting disparities in remuneration, he said those who sold their loyalty were rewarded with billions, while the poor were left with token payments after losing their lives. Addressing police forces in Punjab and Sindh, he urged them not to act like “slaves” but to stand with the people.
Achakzai called on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to join the nation’s mourning and urged citizens to avoid emotional reactions, insisting the protest would remain peaceful.
