Work from home? PTI leaders face backlash over no-show

KARACHI: In what seems to be yet another twist in the chaotic narrative surrounding the PTI’s ill-fated ‘final call’ protest, Imran Khan’s sister, Aleema Khan, took to Twitter on Wednesday afternoon to raise serious concerns, seemingly accusing PTI personnel of deliberately shutting down the sound and light systems on the protest container early in the evening.

According to Aleema, the blackout left protesters on the ground “in total darkness” without any guidance or instructions. “We pleaded all evening for the light and sound on the container to be turned on, but there was no response from those giving instructions,” she alleged.

Her remarks have added to the growing discontent among PTI supporters, who have already voiced frustration over the conspicuous absence of key party leaders at the Islamabad protest.

In a news report for Geo News on Wednesday, senior reporter Nausheen Yusuf pointed out that a number of PTI leaders who had made ‘final calls’ for the Islamabad protest never made it to Islamabad themselves. From Sheikh Waqas Akram to Salman Akram Raja to Taimur Jhagra, Yusuf pointed out that none of these leaders made it to the protest.

In a conversation with The News, she explained that during her coverage of the protest, the only mainstream PTI leaders she could identify as having attended the protest were: Ali Amin Gandapur, his brother, Bushra Bibi and Sher Afzal Marwat. “No one else -- especially those who had tweeted messages of solidarity and urged people to come out on the steers -- showed up”, she said.

Much the same was observed by Geo News reporter Ayaz Akbar Yousafzai who covered the PTI protest extensively. He told The News that he also saw Faisal Javed on the container -- along with the others mentioned by Yusuf -- “but for a short while”. Per his assessment, Marwat too came for a short time. Yousafzai quipped that perhaps most of the PTI leaders were observing a “work from home” moment, adding that neither leaders from Punjab nor most of those from Islamabad showed up at the protest.

The absences have not gone unnoticed by PTI’s supporters, who took to social media to express their anger., criticising the leadership for abandoning the workers who braved violence and faced arrests during the protest.

In an apparent attempt to quell the backlash, Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s daughter, Meher Bano Qureshi, tweeted on Wednesday: “South Punjab remobilized. Many have made it, and many more are coming. A second wave from the South for soon-to-be former Qaidi 804, Wazir-e-Azam Imran Khan, InshaAllah.”

However, such reassurances have done little to placate disgruntled party workers, who responded with scathing remarks online.

Perhaps the most detailed explanation came from PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja. In a six-minute long video message posted on Twitter, the PTI leader clarified his position on: “the barbarity & shahadats yesterday and why I [and] thousands from Punjab were not in Islamabad”.

He claimed that the violence against protestors was unprecedented, with many losing their lives. Raja explained that he had attempted to join the protest but was unable to leave Lahore due to roadblocks, arrests, and a lockdown imposed by the government.

“The entry and exit points in Lahore were completely sealed, and people were being arrested for congregating,” Raja said. While his explanation offered some context, it failed to resonate with PTI’s rank and file on social media.

Information Secretary of the PTI Sheikh Waqas Akram corroborated Raja’s assertion that the government had effectively managed to shut down most routes heading to Islamabad. In a detailed talk with The News on Wednesday night, Sheikh Akram said that Punjab had essentially been cordoned off, adding that while his convoy of 52 cars eventually reached Islamabad, it took two days due to unprecedented roadblocks. “The government had sealed buses and commandeered private transport for police use. Even private cars were hard to come by because of Special Branch interventions,” he said.

According to Akram, there were also unprecedented raids on every single PTI MNA/MPA’s home and that “Punjab was a different story this time”. He agreed that in KP the PTI having a government helped the situation while also adding that Imran Khan has a major mandate in that province making it easier to mobilise there.

Responding to how the PTI worker is not taking any clarification regarding leaders not showing up, Akram emphasised that workers had seen people die: “When we brought the workers to Islamabad we knew there would be some tear gas or reaction but we did not think we would be shot at. So these workers have seen their friends and colleagues die and they are upset. But the fact is that all of KP’s MNAs and MPAs were there. The fact also is that the worker has to be heard right now.”