PTI, JI observe Feb 8 as black day against ‘theft of public mandate’

The Sindh chapter of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) observed Black Day on Saturday to protest what the party alleges extensive rigging that took place in the February 8, 2024 general elections.

Marking the first anniversary of the elections, Sindh PTI President Haleem Adil Sheikh, Karachi President Raja Azhar and General Secretary Arsalan Khalid led a protest at the Karachi Press Club (KPC) highlighting the theft of the public mandate.

The PTI’s ‘winning’ candidates as per the Form 45 results held rallies and marches across different constituencies of Karachi culminating in the protest at the press club.

Despite heavy police deployment around the KPC, the protest was held at the Fountain Chowk, where strong slogans were shouted against the "fake government" formed through mandate theft.

The PTI leadership declared that they would not back down from their struggle and that the protests would continue until their rights were restored.

Addressing the protesters, Sheikh said the PTI was marking the anniversary of the 2024 general elections to make it clear that the people's mandate was stolen in the polls and democracy undermined. He vowed to continue raising the public voice, and stated that the PTI would not rest until the people's rights were restored.

The Sindh PTI president condemned the arrests and violence against peaceful protesters in various cities of Sindh, and said that in the name of democracy, Bilawal Zardari had established a dictatorship in Sindh.

He alleged that the Pakistan Peoples Party had plundered the rights of the people of Sindh and bargained with the province’s resources to gain power. “The PPP has lost its credibility in Sindh,” he said.

He added that in the 2024 general elections, over 81 of the National Assembly seats were stolen, and a government of corrupt criminals imposed on the people. “This incompetent government has made decisions against the public's interests, and we do not accept it, nor will the people accept its decisions."

Sheikh said the PTI was the largest party in the country, and Imran Khan was Pakistan's greatest leader who had been unjustly imprisoned on false charges. “We will soon take back the stolen mandate through the power of the people, and Imran Khan will be freed, and justice will prevail in this country,” he said. The Karachi PTI president said Karachi was observing February 8 as Black Day in all the constituencies, reiterating that the party would not shy away from any sacrifice for the public rights.

He alleged that 20 of the National Assembly seats and 34 of the Sindh Assembly seats of Karachi were stolen through Form 47. He said that public's overwhelming participation in the protests clearly showed that the people stood with the PTI.

The PTI also held protests in other cities of Sindh, including Hyderabad, Sukkur, Nawabshah and Larkana against the manipulation of the electoral process.

JI’s rally

The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) observed a black day against alleged poll rigging in the February 8, 2024 elections and staged a big protest demonstration outside the Election Commission of Pakistan’s Sindh office in Karachi on Saturday. The protesters, carrying placards and banners, chanted slogans against the products of Form 47 and those who had installed them.

Addressing participants of the protest, JI Karachi emir Monem Zafar rejected the alleged rigging of elections and vowed that the JI would resist the “products of Form 47”.

He said that right one year ago on this day, the mandate of Karachiites was ambushed on February 8, 2024 through rigging elections. He demanded of the authorities to constitute a judicial commission to decide the matter of rigging on the basis of Form 47.

He said that elections in the country are nothing but a puppet show in which the winner is defeated through “electoral terrorism”. He further said that on January 15, 2023 Karachiites cast the record number of votes for the JI, but a large number of defeated candidates were declared winners after changing the results in the darkness of the night. As a result of the rigging, aggression and unethical, nefarious tactics, the PPP was bestowed with the mayor’s office.

Zafar further said that the products of rigged elections have ruined the city. Not even a single class was safe in Karachi, he said, while highlighting that reportedly the police picked up a shopkeeper in the darkness of the night and the next day his dead body was found in the mega city.

A large number of children in Karachi were killed after they fell into manholes, he said, adding that similarly several Karachiites were killed by dumpers in the city recently in just a few hours, but no solid action had been taken as yet. He said that recounting of votes was scheduled for NA 231. However, he said, in the presence of the police and candidates, ballot papers were torched at none other than the office of the ECP. He said that the rulers of the country did nothing for the sake of the people or the country but the showed exemplary unity among them despite so-called ideological differences when it comes to increase their own salaries by 140 percent.

Zafar said the JI will continue to fight for the cause of Karachi and Karachiites. He expressed his hope that the JI’s struggle will meet its logical conclusion very soon. He also stressed the need to pace up the struggle against the products of Form 47 and urged Karachiites to join the party’s Karachi Rights Movement. JI leaders Saifuddin advocate, Abdul Razzaq, Maulana Mudasir Hussain Ansari, Farhan Baig and others also addressed the protest demonstration.