by Mayor Barnal Koreshi, a member of Imran Khan's PTI party who joins me from Karachi. Good evening to you. We saw their correspondents in Islamabad protestors still out on the streets in the capital. Tear gas being fired and we understand live rounds. Describe the scene to us tonight in Pakistan. Good evening, Simon. Thank you for having me. Yes, so while your correspondent is in Islamabad, I want to say that this is true for across Pakistan. Every city in Pakistan, big or small Islamabad, the capital, Ravel Pindi, Karachi, Multan, Lahore, Basharber, every city in Pakistan has faced this. We've had reports yesterday. We had more reports because there was greater connectivity. We were connected to people on Twitter, but today Twitter is down in Pakistan. If you don't have a VPN, you don't have access to Wi-Fi, you don't have access to information. Unfortunately, this is also creating a lot more anxiety and a lot more chaos amongst the people. Last night, I myself was here in Karachi at a protest site and we had to endure hours of shelling. It was incessant, it was unbearable, and I just like to point here that this is not regular tear gas. They're using expired tear gas shells, and so it's even more toxic and it's even more harmful, and it is absolutely intolerable and criminal what they're doing. I'd like to ask you, it does seem though that there is a lot of unruly behaviour on the streets, if you like, to call it, that when we have had access to video footage from Pakistan on social media, we've seen protesters attacking ambulances, attacking public transport, and of course, turning on the military, which I want to come to in a moment, is your party appealing for calm? We heard about a national shutdown and sit down protest, but we're seeing nothing of the sort is your party going to call on its protesters not to cause damage in Pakistan. Well, Pakistan, the Rikian South is a political party that has a long history of peaceful protest. If you remember back in 2014, Pakistan, the Rikian South also gave a sit-in in Islamabad, and it was peaceful. There are people remain peaceful, and even now our chairman, Imran Khan, before giving his arrest, made a statement. He had recorded a video statement in which he said that I urge everyone, do protest, protest, peacefully remain calm, don't take the law into your hands. Right, but that's not what we're saying on the streets in the last rest. I'm not thinking that. I'm thinking to that. Since his arrest party leaders who are still have not been arrested yet, including our vice-chairman, they have all given messages of calm and peace. Now, why is there no peace? These are not all political workers, Simon. You've got to understand that there is a genuine level of anger and rage amongst the people of Pakistan. And this anger and rage has been simmering for the past one year. We have had a government that was toppled by a what they claim a constitutional manner, but the people don't see this current government as legitimate. Plus, this government made promises that they have not done good on. People are facing difficulties. Inflation is rising. It's at an all-time high. It's at a 60-year high in a 75-year history. We have inflation at a 60-year high. People would argue these protests are not helping. Let's turn to the protestors. I just want you to understand. These protesters are not all Pakistan, their weekends are workers. They're not tied to the party. They don't have to listen to the party leadership. And secondly, when you come out onto the roads and you're not allowed to protest peacefully, all you see are barricades upon barricades upon barricades that you are stopped from your right to peacefully protest. You are sheld. I mean, tear gas is fired at you. People are, they're hundreds of videos. They're hundreds of videos of women being dragged across streets and roads pulled by the hair. I mean, being thrown to a side. We have a very different, we're dealing with women in Pakistan. There is no denying that. And we've been reporting that here on Sky. And we've seen these pictures like all the rich and the kids. Ms. Kreshy, I'd like to address the protesters, whoever they may be, PTI workers or average Pakistani citizens turning on military institutions. Now, I have covered Pakistan for almost two decades. Now, I've never seen anything like it. These are unprecedented scenes. The military have addressed this today, calling the, naming the evil, I'm going to read this evil leadership of the party, saying that it was pre-planned. And that the, what the eternal enemy of the country didn't manage in 75 years. Pakistan is almost 76 years old. This group has done it under a political cloak in the lust for power. Your reaction to what the military say there. And is this very much the PTI versus the military now in Pakistan? Well, you know, it's a very interesting, it's very interesting what you said. The press release itself is very interesting because like you said, that these are unprecedented scenes. You couldn't even have you covered Pakistan. You've lived in Pakistan. You couldn't even imagine people speaking up openly against the military. And yet today, you see people walking like, Waltzing in, I wouldn't even say walking. They're waltzing into the, to the GHQ headquarters. They're waltzing into the Corke Amanda's house. You know, Asima living in Pakistan that these places are not easy to just walk into. So the fact that they face no resistance really does lead to a lot of questions. How did people walk into these areas so easily? It seems to me more like, yes, it was pre-planned, but not by us. It wasn't pre-planned by us. It seems that this was a script that was written. And this, by the military, by the establishment, by the military, by the government, all of them together in order to declare Pakistan, the Reeky and Safe terrorist political terrorist organization. Absolutely. Those have been the rumors. That's what they're trying for. That's what they're buying for. We have heard rumors today as well that a lot of the paperwork to declare Pakistan, the Reeky and Safe terrorist organization are almost complete. And all things lead in that direction, especially this press release. So where is this heading then? The international summit. Where is this heading? And what is the ultimate end? We have had countless analysts on Sky News over the last 24 hours. Obviously, many of them pointing out that it is sad that oftentimes Pakistan's political leaders who have a democratic right to rule whether that be Benazir Bhutto or Imran Khan often end up being jailed exiled as Nawashirif and Shabashirif were themselves or assassinated as Benazir Bhutto was. There clearly is a balance of power to be addressed in Pakistan. But where do you see all of this heading? Look, we don't see it heading. I mean, dark days ahead is what we see. We have been predicting this. We have been warning about this eventuality. But Imran Khan himself has been warning us about this eventuality. And what has he been asking for for the last one year? He has just been saying that the current government does not have the mandate a to lead and b to make difficult decisions. And we can see them disring on those decisions. So clearly, not only do they realize they don't have the mandate, they don't have the gumption to do it either. And so what we have now is an illegitimate government without any spine to take difficult decisions without a mandate. And here we are asking for fresh elections. They didn't want to hold fresh elections. So we dissolved parliaments in Punjab and KPK in order to bring about those elections to say, look, the system is not functioning. It needs to be reset. We need to go back to the people. We are a democratic country after all. And what's the harm in going back to the people? But the current government, the current dispensation is fearful of what will happen at the polls, which is why all of what is happening today is happening. Even these cases, their ludicrous crisis against Imran Khan, the world knows him, is he a terrorist? Is he somebody who is inciting mutiny and sedition? Because these are the kind of cases that are being filed against him. These are the FIRs that he is showing up for in courts across Pakistan. And today, what happened today, what happened yesterday, it seems more like that this is a script written by the powers that be the government, the civil administration and the military in order to embroil Pakistan, the Rikian South, in more litigation, in more cases so that they stay completely confused, they stay completely focused on litigation, not able to push for elections, which is the need of people. We're going to have to leave it there. Mayor Barna Kharashi from PTI. Thanks very much indeed for joining us when I know a lot of your senior members of the party have been unable to. Thank you. Thank you for having me.