PSP calls off sit-in, announces million-man march on May 14

Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) Chairman Mustafa Kamal wrapped up the party’s sit-in camp from outside the local press club on Sunday and announced plans to hold a million-man march on May 14 as part of the party’s second phase of the protest against the Sindh government, reports Shamim Bano.

The party moved in the form of a procession from the press club to its headquarters, the Pakistan House, at Nursery, Sharea Faisal.

Kamal directed the party workers to begin a mass mobilisation campaign right away to gather public support for the march.

The PSP on April 6 had kicked off an indefinite protest outside the Karachi Press Club against the Sindh government for keeping the city ‘deprived of its due rights’. It has put forward 16 demands to be accepted by the provincial government. 

Addressing party workers and media personnel, Kamal said the party was peacefully ending the first phase of its protest. He claimed that the move was a hundred percent successful as it gathered support not only from the masses but also pushed major political parties to stand against the Sindh government’s bad governance and deteriorating situation of the metropolis.

Referring to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and the ruling Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) Sunday protests, as well as Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Jamaat-e-Islami’s (JI) recent rallies, Kamal said that political parties came out on the streets to demand the metropolis’s due rights of water and electricity supply, betterment of health and education standards as well as the transport system.

Kamal further said that, “This was not the end. We have not abandoned our 16 demands and neither would we sit idle till they are accepted.”

He declared PSP’s protest a success, stating that even the ruling PPP decided to protest against the federal government’s injustices.

The former mayor said the PSP would support all forces fighting for Karachi’s rights despite political differences. “We did not sit here (local press club) for political point scoring, rather our only mission was to give relief to the people of Karachi who have long suffered at the hands of ‘certain mafias’,” he said.

The entire leadership along with the party’s area in-charges have been directed to make the movement a remarkable one by gathering massive public support for the march, the PSP chief stated.

“The million-man march will shake up the corridors of power and if our demands are not met the authorities concerned should brace themselves for consequences,” he added.

He denied have struck a deal with the Sindh government. “We felt compelled to stage a sit-in outside the Chief Minister and the Governor House, but we believe in tolerance and patience and did not want to disturb the city’s peace. We did not retaliate but remained peaceful throughout our protest,” he added.

He also thanked the press club’s administration and journalists for giving due coverage to the party’s protest and facilitating the protestors at the club.

On the last day of the protest scores of party activists including women and elderly people participated in the rally and raised slogans in Kamal’s favour.

The supporters claimed the party made them aware of the need to fight for
their rights and was all praise for the PSP leadership who they felt sat outside the press club for 19 continuous days to not gain any political mileage but to empower the city’s people.