The labour wing of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Thursday claimed that the pro-change party chief Imran Khan is surrounded by a strong “mafia” which has not let grass-root level leaders come closer to the party head.
The mafia, a central leader of the PTI alleged, was comprised of party’s bigwigs like Jahangir Tarin, Arif Alvi, Imran Ismail, Najeeb Haroon, Samar Ali Khan, Firdous Shamim, Faisal Wada and others who could be seen flanking Khan on his container at Azadi Chawk.
“Some drawing room people have hijacked the party,” claimed Zubair Khan, president of PTI’s labour wing who also claims to be a member of the party’s core committee.
Flanked by other like-minded party fellows like Hafiz Fazal Karim, Khalid Imran and others, Zubair told reporters at the Karachi Press Club that a “big mafia” existed in PTI’s ranks “against whom I am fighting for a long time as a grass-root level leader”.
Expressing strong grievances against the above-mentioned party fellows, Zubair, however, has a soft corner for party chief Khan who, he claimed, himself wanted to get rid of the mafia.
“They induce Khan to issue show-cause notice to me. But Khan does not pay any heed to them,” claimed the labour leader, once party’s Sindh chapter president.
“They know what is my importance in the party,” added Zubair who claims to have formed 72 labour unions for the party in public and private sector institutions.
“A few people have occupied the driving seat in the party but Mr Khan wants to get rid of them,” he claimed.
Claiming to have the backing of party’s labour wing workers in Sindh and Karachi, Zubair urged the PTI chief to follow the party’s constitution. Asked what made him believe the party constitution was being violated, he said neither core committee’s nor national council’s meetings were being convened on the given time.
“The central leadership knows that how in early days me and a handful of PTI’s ideological workers were able to organise gatherings of thousands for Mr Khan in different cities and villages of Sindh,” he reminded the party chief.
Terming the party’s November 21st public gathering at Larkana as a last nail in the politics of Pakistan People’s Party in Sindh, Zubair said the PTI’s labour wing would hold a workers meeting on October 12 at Shahra-e-Faisal to review the political and deteriorating law and order situation of Karachi and interior of Sindh.
“We can’t leave the people of Karachi on the mercy of threats and claims the two parties keep making,” he said in an indirect reference to the PPP and the MQM who dominate rural and urban Sindh.
The Thursday’s development is bound to ring alarm bells for Khan, the cricketer-turned-politician, who is busy holding huge public gatherings in different cities of the country.
