KARACHI: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has announced that it will hold a big rally on Shahrah-i-Quaideen on Sept 6 even if the authorities do not grant them permission.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Muhammad Sohail Afridi will address the gathering as part of a four-day mobilisation campaign across Sindh, said PTI secretary general Barrister Salman Akram Raja and Sindh president Haleem Adil Sheikh while addressing a press conference at party headquarters Insaf House on Thursday.

They criticised the government over deaths of 14 newborn babies at PIMS Hospital in Islamabad, alleged electoral irregularities, political repression, deteriorating healthcare and education, inflation and Karachi’s worsening civic conditions.

Speaking about the rally, Mr Sheikh said: “Even if the permission is not granted, there will be a rally in Karachi.”

Salman Raja announces Sindh-wide mobilisation campaign; says Afridi will enter Sindh on Sept 3

The gathering would coincide with Defence Day and focus on the defence of Pakistan and the rights of its people, he added.

He said that KP CM Afridi would enter Sindh with the PTI’s central leadership on Sept 3 with a convoy from the check post of the Kamoon Shaheed border at 11am.

The delegation will travel from Jacobabad to Naushehro Feroze on Sept 4, Hyderabad on Sept 5 and reach Karachi on Sept 6, with public gatherings planned along the route.

The PTI leaders said the Karachi rally would form part of a broader street campaign while Sept 27 would be observed as “Democracy Day” in support of the party’s demand for the release of Imran Khan and “the restoration of PTI’s electoral mandate”.

Addressing the press conference, Barrister Raja expressed grief over the deaths of 14 newborn babies at PIMS Hospital and criticised the “deeply unequal” state system.

“A committee comprising those responsible has been formed but the question is that where is the country heading?” he said arguing that Pakistan had effectively developed separate systems for the wealthy and the poor. “We need to fix the system,” he said.

He said public education and healthcare had deteriorated while millions of children remained out of school.

He claimed that around 25 million children were currently not attending school and the country was wasting their potential.

He also criticised the growing divide between expensive private education and public schools, saying that children from poorer families were denied opportunities available to the affluent.

He linked the healthcare crisis to the same inequality saying that wealthy families did not generally depend on basic public facilities while poor people had little alternative.

The PTI secretary general also alleged that journalists, lawmakers and political workers who criticised the authorities were facing pressure, arrests or dismissal.

He reiterated the party’s claim that its electoral mandate from the Feb 8, 2024 elections had been denied, claiming that PTI candidates had won 21 of Karachi’s 22 National Assembly seats.

Mr Raja also opposed any decision to create new provinces without a genuine electoral mandate, calling instead for empowered local governments and devolution of authority to the grassroots.

Earlier, Mr Sheikh criticised the Sindh government over healthcare, inflation and Karachi’s deteriorating infrastructure. He alleged serious problems at Valika Hospital and Ratodero, claimed that flour prices had reached Rs180 per kilogramme in Sindh.

He also demanded a transparent investigation into the murder of Karachi youth Mir Raza Ali.

He accused the PPP and MQM of relying on the “Sindh card” and “Urdu card” respectively. PTI Karachi president Faheem Khan demanded Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal’s resignation over the PIMS deaths, saying those responsible should accept moral responsibility.

Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2026