PPP wins right to hold May 12 meeting at Hakim Said ground

The East deputy commissioner’s office issued a no objection certificate to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Monday evening so it can hold its public meeting at the Hakim Mohammad Said Playground in Gulshan-e-Iqbal on May 12.

Both the ruling party and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have been adamant that they will hold their respective gatherings at the same venue and on the same day. In a news conference held at the PPP’s media cell earlier in the day, the party’s Karachi President Saeed Ghani said they will hold their public meeting at the Hakim Said ground come what may.

Ghani said that on Friday night private TV channels ran news tickers announcing that the PTI will hold its May 12 public meeting in the vicinity of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s mausoleum.

He said the PTI had occupied the playground by setting up the party’s camp there. “We have so far avoided clash and confrontation, but what the PTI is doing is a sheer show of hooliganism and unruliness. Certain PTI people have been following the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) agenda.”

He accused the PTI and the MQM of making a secret agreement, claiming that the latter has been growing nervous of the PPP’s popularity and has sent in its “B team”. He said the general elections will be conducted soon, so it is the responsibility of all the major parties to avoid making the political climate in the metropolis tenser, adding that the PTI is also upset about the PPP’s rising popularity among the masses.

The PPP leader said the PTI’s elected local government representatives had voted in favour of the MQM-backed Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar. He accused PTI Chairman Imran Khan of holding previous public meetings in the city with the MQM’s permission.

He said that under a well thought out plan, the MQM has been distributing pamphlets among the people of the city that contain hateful literature against the party’s political rivals. He claimed that the PTI has been working on a wilful plan to vitiate the city’s political environment.

Ghani said the PTI cannot hold its public meeting at the Hakim Said ground without obtaining the district administration’s say-so, adding that the PPP had sought permission only after confirming that no other party had applied for consent.

‘Generous gesture’

Earlier in the day, PTI Karachi President Firdous Shamim Naqvi asked the PPP for a “generous gesture” by letting his party hold its public meeting at the Hakim Said ground on May 12. “The PPP is in power in the province and it’s the party’s responsibility to maintain peace and harmony in society,” Naqvi said while addressing a news conference at the same venue.

He said the PTI does not want to create any untoward situation, which is why he is urging Sindh’s ruling party to choose another spot for its gathering, adding that the PTI had announced in its Saturday’s news conference that they will hold their meeting at the Hakim Said ground.

“We were told that the PPP has also chosen the same venue on the same date, so we requested them to look for another site because we had already begun our campaign.” Citing different newspapers and TV channels, Naqvi said that it was their understanding that the PPP was going to hold its next public meeting in Baldia Town as part of the party’s plan of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari addressing every district of the city.

He said the PTI was the first to choose the Hakim Said ground for its public meeting and, therefore, had the right to hold the gathering there. “We [the PTI] are informing you [the PPP] again that we shall hold our public meeting here. Now it is up to you whether you provide us with security or not. We shall certainly go ahead with our plan.”