PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Monday announced that the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf would hold a public gathering in Mardan district next Sunday (April 19).
“The Mardan Railway Ground gathering will serve as a historic and defining political event in the country’s contemporary politics,” an official statement quoted the chief minister as saying.
He said the rally would convey to the world that despite sustained political victimisation, imprisonment and institutional pressure, PTI remained the country’s largest and most popular political party.
The chief minister said that the moot was being organised in the directions of PTI founder and former prime minister Imran Khan and would serve as a powerful demonstration of his enduring political influence, unmatched popularity and continued connection with the people of Pakistan.
He said that the Mardan gathering would reaffirm that Mr Imran remained the country’s most widely supported political leader and continued to command broad public confidence and emotional resonance.
The chief minister said that the PTI founder and his wife, Bushra Bibi, had been unjustly imprisoned, while the PTI leadership had remained subject to continuous persecution, coercion and politically motivated actions over the past many years.
He maintained that despite those measures, neither Imran’s political narrative nor public support for him had diminished.
Mr Afridi said that the April 19 gathering would demonstrate to the national and international community that the PTI founder retained the capacity to mobilise significant political activity across the country despite his illegal incarceration and that his public appeal remained unmatched.
He noted that since the announcement of the rally, opponents, particularly individuals associated with certain digital platforms, were trying to undermine the event through negative propaganda.
The chief minister, however, said that party workers would not be deterred by such tactics and would continue their political struggle in accordance with Imran’s guidance.
He emphasised that whenever the PTI founder issued directions regarding political mobilisation, it reflected a deliberate strategic vision and clear objective and that party workers and supporters had a responsibility to ensure the success of that mission.
Mr Afridi said that PTI intended to make the gathering one of the largest public in the country’s political history and, in Imran’s absence, use it to send out a clear message that the people of Pakistan continue to stand firmly with him like the past and would continue doing so.
He urged people from across the country to participate in the April 19 public gathering in large numbers to demonstrate their political resolve and public strength.
