KARACHI: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi reached Karachi on Friday, beginning his three-day visit to Sindh as part of mobilisation efforts for PTI’s street movement. Sindh Labour Minister Saeed Ghani welcomed him at the airport. A video released from the minister’s office showed Ghani receiving Afridi and the two hugging at the airport. Ghani was also seen presenting Afridi a Sindhi cap and Ajrak. The party’s secretary general Salman Akram Raja has also reached Karachi. Videos shared by the PTI on X showed a large crowd gathered at the airport to welcome Afridi. An update shared on PTI‘s X account at around 5:15pm said Afridi’s convoy, heading towards the party’s head office near the nursery area and surrounded by a large crowd, had reached Karachi’s main artery Sharea Faisal by then. Afridi also shared a video of himself at Sharea Faisal, with PTI supporters and workers shouting slogans of “Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi”. Afridi boarded the flight for Karachi from the Islamabad airport, where he faced flight delays. KP Minister for Local Government Meena Khan Afridi, who is accompanying the chief minister, said in a post on X prior to their departure that their flight had been delayed. PTI alleges dismantling of tents Meanwhile, PTI spokesperson Mohammed Ali Bozdar alleged while speaking to Dawn that police had removed the tents put up outside the party‘s head office near the nursery area for the KP CM’s reception. He, however, clarified that the office had not been sealed by police. Previously, the PTI had alleged in a post on social media platform X that Sindh police had sealed the Insaf Secretariat in Karachi and dismantled a camp installed there for Afridi’s welcome. Bozdar said CM Afridi was expected to address party workers and leaders at the head office, where he would be taken from the airport. He also said he had spoken to police and Sindh government officials, who have assured that the tents would be returned. He added that the officials also assured that the party would be allowed to hold a gathering but was asked not to block roads. Dawn reached out to police for a comment but there was no response from their side. Afridi to hold gathering at Mazar-i-Quaid on Sunday Before departing for Karachi, the KP chief minister said in a post on X that he was bringing party founder Imran Khan’s “message” to the province. “My visit is for three days and during this time we have planned various activities,” the chief minister said, urging people to support the street movement. KP CM announced that he would be holding a gathering at Mazar-i-Quaid on Sunday at 4:30pm, calling on people to participate in the gathering. “We will hold the biggest gathering in Karachi’s history,” CM Afridi said. For its part, the authorities in Sindh initially said Afridi would not be allowed to hold a public gathering at Mazar-i-Quaid but later, a provincial minister announced a change in the decision. A notification issued by the Korangi deputy commissioner’s office initially cited “great traffic congestion” and consequent “public inconvenience” as the reasons to deny permission to hold the gathering at Mazar-i-Quaid and asked the PTI to propose an alternative venue. However, later Sindh Local Government Nasir Hussain Shah said in a statement issued by his office that the authorities had decided to allow the rally at Mazar-i-Quaid. “We will fully welcome KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi in the province,” he said, adding that the peaceful struggle of any political party, including the PTI, could not be stopped. But, he also warned that “difficulties could arise in the law is violated”. “There is no restriction on the rally. They have sought permission for holding rallies in South and Korangi districts. They have sought permission for a rally at Jinnah Ground and they are being given permission for that,” he said. “We are in talks with the PTI leadership and they can definitely be given permission for holding the rally in accordance with the law.” What’s on CM’s agenda? The KP CM, during his three-day visit, will meet with the party leadership, as well as lawyers and business leaders, and hold a meeting with Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah. The visit is aimed at energising the party’s newly launched street movement in Karachi and other cities seeking the release of the incarcerated former prime minister. On Monday, PTI Sindh President Haleem Adil Sheikh, during a press conference at party headquarters, Insaf House, shared the CM Afridi’s schedule for the visit. He detailed that CM Afridi will depart from Islamabad on January 9 and arrive in Karachi, where he will be received by party workers and supporters. His Karachi engagements include interactions with traders at the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry, a meeting with the Press at the Karachi Press Club (KPC), and street movements across districts South, Korangi and Malir. The PTI Sindh chapter president had also said that a meeting between the chief ministers of KP and Sindh is expected on January 12, pending official confirmation. He is also expected to meet incarcerated PTI workers, which the party says underscores its campaign narrative of resistance and sacrifice following his arrival in Karachi. Hyderabad visit The CM will travel to Hyderabad on Jan 1o. On his route, he will be welcomed in Jamshoro by Sindh United Party President Syed Zain Shah. The Hyderabad leg features street protests in Kotri, addresses to the Press Club, meetings with journalists, intellectuals and farmers, and a gathering at Insaf House Hyderabad. The agenda also includes an address to the High Court Bar Association (HCBA), but the lawyers’ body has said it never accorded permission for the CM to visit or address the bar. Earlier, the bar association general secretary invited the CM to the Hyderabad High Court in a letter dated January 7. In the letter, seen by Dawn , General Secretary Israr Hussain Chang said he warmly welcomed the CM to Sindh and “commend your principled stance on the 26th and 27th Constitutional Amendments, the rule of law, human rights, and justice for missing persons”. “We hope you will also support our ongoing legal and constitutional struggle to protect Sindh’s lands, resist unjust corporate farming allotments, and safeguard Karoonjhar Kirthar, and the water rights and Indus delta, all vital to our ecological and cultural identity. “During your visit to Hyderabad, if you spare some moments to visit the High Court, Hyderabad, I would be honoured to receive you on behalf of the legal fraternity and people of Sindh,” the letter read. But, the bar association clarified in a press release on January 8 that it “never accorded permission nor allowed the worthy KP chief minister to address or visit HCBA, Hyderabad”. It added that the bar association’s entire executive/ managing committee, by a clear majority, had rejected during a meeting an application submitted in this connection. The general secretary issued his letter in his personal capacity and “used the letterhead of the HCBA without consent of the managing committee for the aforesaid programme”, the press release said. Meanwhile, the spokesperson for PTI Hyderabad chairperson alleged while speaking to Dawn that police had conducted raids at residences of the “elected chairpersons of different union committees and activists of PTI on Thursday in different parts of the city”. However, no arrests could be made, he said. Hyderabad Senior Superintendent of Police Adeel Chandio also told Dawn that no PTI activists had been arrested during the raids in Hyderabad. Last month, CM Afridi’s visit to Lahore — undertaken for the same purpose — was marked with difficulties. Subsequently, he had written a letter to Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz complaining about the treatment meted out to him during his visit.