KARACHI: The Sindh government on Monday decided to release nearly 300 Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) workers who had been detained under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance last week, government sources and party leaders said.
PTI spokesperson Fauzia Siddiqui said that Sindh Home Minister Zia Lanjar called party MPAs Wajid Hussain and Sajjad Ali Soomro to inform them of the government’s decision.
“So we hope that our workers will be released by tomorrow [Tuesday] after all government formalities are completed,” she told Dawn.
She claimed around 300 party workers and leaders from different tiers were arrested in raids that began last Sunday and continued ahead of the Feb 8 protest call. “We have already challenged their detention in court.”
Meanwhile, government sources confirmed the PTI’s claim and said that the government had, in principle, decided to release all PTI workers and that the “documentary process” in this regard had already begun.
Opposition party hopes detained activists will be freed today; claims home minister has conveyed the decision to two PTI lawmakers
“So it may take some time, and by Tuesday evening we may see the workers being released from prison,” said a source.
Last week, the PTI accused provincial authorities of arresting dozens of activists during night-long raids in Karachi and other parts of Sindh and detaining them under the controversial MPO Ordinance.
On Feb 1, the Sindh home department issued notifications under MPO to detain the PTI workers for 30 days on the ground that they “are instigating public to block roads, highways and organise sit-ins, which may disturb peace and tranquillity and can create serious law and order problems”.
The party challenged the alleged detentions in the Sindh High Court (SHC) the very next day.
On Friday, the Sindh High Court directed provincial authorities to produce the cabinet’s decision for issuing detention orders against PTI workers under the MPO Ordinance.
A two-judge constitutional bench of the SHC, headed by Justice Adnan Iqbal Chaudhary, also issued notices to the respondents and the Advocate General Sindh in around 35 identical petitions, fixing Feb 10 for hearing.
Earlier on Monday, the PTI said that even after passing the Feb 8 protest call, its Karachi President Raja Azhar and Senior Vice President Faheem Khan were arrested by law enforcement authorities.
Condemning the move as unconstitutional and politically motivated, the party spokesperson said that both leaders were shifted to the Central Prison and that even their families were unaware of the cases against them and their whereabouts.
“We have been informed that both leaders were moved to the Central Prison on Monday evening. We were not allowed to meet them, nor were their families permitted to do so. This is open barbarity, which we strongly condemn,” she alleged.
Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2026
