Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori on Friday criticised Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi for “inciting acts of vandalism and road blockades” during his recent visit to Karachi, which he said led to “losses worth billions of rupees”.

Afridi visited Karachi and other cities of Sindh last week as part of the PTI’s renewed anti-government agitation campaign called the “street movement”. The chief minister decried the treatment meted out to him by the Sindh government during his visit, alleging that the police tried to stop his motorcade and PTI supporters from staging a peaceful protest at Mazar-i-Quaid. The Sindh government denied the allegations, stating that the Jinnah Ground was under the control of the Centre, so it was not entitled to issue a no-objection certificate to the party.

Speaking to reporters in Karachi, Governor Tessori said that the PTI had “turned the whole country upside down, but the agitation was confined to social media and had no value on the ground.”

Referring to KP CM’s Karachi visit, Tessori said, “You must come here, we will welcome you again, but come with positive work to do”.

He suggested that CM Afridi should meet with traders and industrialists and ask them to invest in his province instead of mobilising people to take to the streets.

“If you talk about establishing new industries, expanding inter-provincial trade, the future of people, giving health and educational opportunities, people will definitely welcome you,” Tessori said.

“However, incendiary political narrative, incitement to vandalism, blockades, causing trouble to people — these things will not be welcomed.”

The governor added that putting this city to a halt caused losses worth billions of rupees, because “Karachi is the financial and economic hub of Pakistan,” he stated.

“For God’s sake, don’t do this,” Tessori pleaded.

He reminded the chief minister that Pakistan was now at the centre of the “global lens”, making progress through diplomatic efforts.

“Why don’t you understand that we are a triumphant nation and the time has come to pull ourselves out of the problems we have been facing for the last 70 years,” he said.

He said that repeating the incidents of May 9 — when PTI supporters staged violent nationwide protests, vandalising state-owned institutions and military installations following Imran Khan’s arrest — at this stage would be “equivalent to a foreign conspiracy and a foreign agenda.”

“We have to provide educational opportunities because I believe that ignorance is the biggest reason for terrorism,” the governor said.

Speaking in favour of the armed forces and calling the chief minister out for criticising them, Tessori said that politicians might disappoint the nation, but the army would never do that.

“Didn’t we see what happened on May 10?” he questioned.

Tessori added that the world was praising the Pakistani Army and acknowledging the country’s defence capabilities, but the PTI was doing the opposite. “Rather than lauding your army, you started abusing it.”

“Is there any country or leader in the world who talks against his own army?”

He was referring to Imran’s recent social media comments against the leadership of the armed forces on the X platform, in response to which the Director-General of Inter-Services Public Relations had called him a “national security threat”.

“There are countries where presidents can be picked up, and their armies can’t do anything”, Tessori said, “but India couldn’t even seize an inch of land of Pakistan because of our army.”

“Politicians may disappoint you, but not your army.”

He accepted that the country was facing economic difficulties, though the world was handing orders to Pakistan’s defence industries to manufacture aircraft. “Our economy will improve by this,” he stated.

Further criticising the PTI, Governor Tessori said that Karachi city gave the PTI a president, Arif Alvi, who was a citizen of this city. “Tell me how many projects he gave to Karachi,” he asked.

“Karachi gave the MNA seat to Imran Khan, but he hadn’t even spent a night in this city.”

“Tell us what your performance was?” he asked. “How many industries had he [Imran] inaugurated in Karachi?”

“What have you done for Pashtuns, Balochs, Sindhis, Urdu-speaking, and other communities in this city?” he questioned. “But you made speeches to incite violence like May 9.”

“Name a single project,” he challenged. “Even if some time is given to you now, you still can’t do anything.”

Governor Tessori added that PTI could only incite innocent people on social media and sold them a narrative that had neither rendered them any favour nor could it now.

“We have to choose whether we want to strengthen our country economically and educationally, or go after the people who would just make you chant slogans and hold flags,” he stated.