Tehreek Tahaffuz-e-Aeen Pakistan to begin nationwide movement for constitutional supremacy

KARACHI: Leaders of the Tehreek Tahaffuz-e-Aeen Pakistan (Pakistan Constitutional Protection Movement) announced on Tuesday that a historic public rally will be held on November 14 at the Hyderabad Bypass to launch a countrywide campaign for the supremacy of the Constitution and respect for the people’s mandate.

Addressing a joint press conference at the Karachi Press Club, TTAP leaders said that the Tehreek Tahaffuz-e-Aeen Pakistan would continue its public struggle for the supremacy of the Constitution, law, and democracy.

They said the November 14 rally would mark “a historic beginning of the movement,” where true representatives of the people would raise their voices for constitutional rule.

The central vice chairman of the movement and president of the Sindh United Party, Syed Zain Shah, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Sindh President Haleem Adil Sheikh, Allama Hayat Abbas of Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen, Dr Mahmood of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, and Mufti Hafiz of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Sherani Group) addressed the press conference.

Syed Zain Shah said the Tehreek Tahaffuz-e-Aeen Pakistan was formed after the 2024 general elections when the constitutional supremacy in the country had been undermined. “After 2022, a hybrid system was imposed, and the current government was installed through a bogus election,” he said.

Shah said the country can only function under the Constitution and if the president and prime minister act beyond it, how can the state operate? He said the Hyderabad rally would mark the beginning of a public awareness campaign across all provinces and Gilgit-Baltistan, aimed at mobilizing people to restore democracy and end what he termed a “hybrid and illegitimate system.”

Criticizing the proposed 27th Constitutional Amendment, he said it was “a conspiracy to eliminate the powers of the provinces and weaken the foundations of the parliamentary system.” Shah warned that any attempt to replace the parliamentary system with a presidential model would face strong resistance. “Governments formed through stolen mandates have no legitimacy and no right to amend the Constitution,” he added.

“The movement’s struggle is for the restoration of constitutional order and people’s authority.”

Haleem Adil Sheikh alleged that the Constitution had already been violated and the government was now seeking to “dismantle it further.” He was of the view that after the 26th Amendment, the judiciary has become subservient and the courts are inactive.

Sheikh said PTI founder Imran Khan, several party leaders, and women activists remained imprisoned, while opposition lawmakers in the National Assembly and Senate had been given sentences of up to 40 years. He said the Pakistan Constitutional Protection Movement believed in democratic struggle rather than violence. “We have no gangs or mafias. We rely on the power of the people to dismantle this system established through a stolen mandate,” he said.

He maintained that the current rulers lacked a genuine mandate and therefore had “no right to amend the Constitution.” “The nation will not accept any forced constitutional amendment,” he added.

Commenting on Karachi’s situation, Sheikh said that linguistic politics had been used to divide the city while the administration had collapsed. “E-challans have been imposed on citizens while the city’s infrastructure lies in ruins. In Sindh, health, agriculture, and justice systems have collapsed. The PPP has destroyed the province,” he remarked.

He added that “Bhutto’s PPP once stood for democracy, but Zardari’s PPP stands only for deals.”

Allama Hayat Abbas of Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen said no government built on oppression could survive, adding that his party stood with the movement to ensure that citizens received their rights.

Dr Mahmood of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party said governments formed through “stolen mandates” were unacceptable, and his party supported the movement’s demand for the supremacy of the Constitution and the release of political prisoners.

Mufti Hafiz of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Sherani Group) said the existing system was “selected, not elected,” adding that repression, violence, and economic exploitation continued across the country. “The people of Karachi are deprived of basic services, and the dumper mafia is endangering their lives,” he said.