PTI links rise in Covid-19 cases in Karachi to PDM’s rally, asks CJP to take notice

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leaders said on Saturday that after the October rally of the Pakistan Democratic Movement in Karachi, a significant rise in the coronavirus infection cases had been seen in the metropolis, and asked the Supreme Court to take notice of the rallies being staged by the opposition parties in the current situation.

Addressing a press conference at the Insaf House, PTI Karachi president and MPA Khurram Sherzaman said that mainly the PDM, particularly the Pakistan Peoples Party, which hosted the rally in October, were responsible for the rise in coronavirus infection cases and resultant deaths in the city. He was accompanied by PTI leaders, including Arsalan Faisal Mirza, Fiza Zeeshan, and Srina Adnan.

“Opposition parties do not care about the health of the people and are endangering their lives by bringing people to public rallies despite a spike in the virus cases,” said Sherzaman.

The PTI leader claimed that the Sindh chief minister on Thursday had written a letter to the prime minister, informing him about the rise in the coronavirus infected cases, deaths of 32 people in a single day and non-availability of beds for coronavirus patients.

“But on the other hand, the chief minister is also hosting a public rally on December 27 in Larkana by using government funds despite knowing the fact that the coronavirus death rate has been 1.2 per cent,” said Sherzaman, who also submitted a resolution on Thursday against the PPP for planning to hold the Larkana rally.

“The PPP has also invited the leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam-Fazl to attend the rally,” he said.

“On the one hand, the Sindh government wants more funds from the Centre by crying that the coronavirus situation has become serious in the province, but on the other hand, it is spending public money on the party’s public rallies,” he said. “It shows that there is a clear contradiction in the words and deeds of the PPP.”

He said that the entire world had been praising the policies of Prime Minister Imran Khan and the federal government to combat the first wave in a successful manner. “But in the second wave, opposition parties have been spoiling the federal governments’ efforts to contain the virus spread by holding rallies across the country,” the PTI leader said.

He said the PDM leadership was afraid of Imran Khan’s growing popularity and development and prosperity in the country. “Corrupt leaders of the corrupt political parties are united in the PDM’s banner to save themselves from anti-corruption bodies at the cost of endangering the people’s lives,” he said.

“It is the same Maryam Safdar whose father used to tell Asif Ali Zardari that he would rip out Zardari’s stomach and take out the stolen money, dragging Zardari on the streets of Larkana and Lahore,” he said. “And it is the same Bilawal Zardari whose father used to say that Nawaz Sharif is a national thief.”

Criticising PDM chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the PTI leader said that under the guise of an ambassador of Islam and using religion and politics, he had built properties worth of millions of rupees. He claimed that the PDM leadership had been making unsuccessful attempts to pressure the prime minister to take NRO by insulting Pakistan’s armed forces.

Praising the performance of the federal government, he said the country’s construction industry was developing, and the Stock Exchange was going up despite the coronavirus pandemic. “On the other side, the country’s foreign policy is becoming successful.”

He said that millions of people had been helped through the Ehsas programme. He said Prime Minister Imran Khan had promised the nation that his government would provide employment. “The PTI government has taken revolutionary steps in the agricultural sector.”

Criticising the PPP for its “bad performance and corruption” and turning it a “coronavirus spreader”, he said the incompetent provincial government had destroyed every sector of Sindh.

“The Sindh government wants to turn the entire province into Mohenjo Daro. The rabies vaccine not available in Larkana. The education system has been destroyed,” he said, adding that the PTI had been taking serious steps for the health and safety of the people.

Youth Parliament

A delegation of the Sindh Youth Parliament met Opposition Leader in Sindh Assembly Firdous Shamim Naqvi at his residence and discussed the province’s political situation, particularly in the sector of education and health in detail.

Naqvi, who is a PTI provincial leader, said the youth were the future of Pakistan and therefore it was the need of hour that they should take interest in the country’s politics.

He said the PTI had been creating opportunities of quality education and employment, skill development for the youth.