The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Tuesday announced a schedule for protests in Punjab, with demonstrations to commence from Oct. 11 in Multan and Sahiwal and conclude on Oct. 14 in provincial capital Lahore and Faisalabad.
“Protests will continue for the sake of people’s sovereignty in the country,” announced PTI Punjab President Hammad Azhar in a posting on X, formerly Twitter. In this regard, he said, the party would stage a protest in Multan and Sahiwal on Oct. 11; in Gujranwala and Sargodha on Oct. 12; in Dera Ghazi Khan on Oct. 13; and in Lahore and Faisalabad on Oct. 14.
After the final protest in the Punjab capital, said Azhar, the PTI’s political committee would announce a call for all of Pakistan to gather at a demonstration in Islamabad.
The PTI has come under increasing criticism from its own supporters since Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur “disappeared” from its planned protest at D-Chowk, with social media rife with abuse directed at the party leadership. Additionally, a parallel protest planned for Minar-e-Pakistan on Oct. 5 failed to achieve its goals, further raising questions about the party’s Punjab leadership. The new schedule appears intended to dampen the criticisms, though it remains unclear who would lead the latest protests, a key problem raised during the party’s demonstrations over the weekend.