Azadi Dharna: Lyari residents join PTI sit-in on fourth day

Separate protests were held by PTI supporters at Sea View and Hyderi.

KARACHI:

Dozens of men and women from Lyari joined the Paksitan Tehreek-e-Insaf's Azadi Dharna at Sea View on Saturday evening as the sit-in entered its fourth day.

The Lyari'ites arrived in apt style. A young man, wearing a Neymar football jersey, beat the dhol as the men and women cheered as they joined the main sit-in, the party's songs blaring from their speakers.

Burqa-clad Saima, a resident of Baghdadi, Lyari, claimed she had come to the sit-in because she believed Imran Khan would get them justice. "The party's name, Tehreek-e-Insaf, speaks for itself." Seated beside Saima, an elderly woman, Khatija Qazi, demanded she be given a party flag. The women lambasted the parliamentarians from the area, saying they had done nothing for the people. "The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has only given us the gift of dead bodies," said Qazi.

The Lyari residents came down hard on the Rangers, claiming that dozens of young men had been picked up, tortured and later killed in encounters.

The participants from Lyari had arrived in a bus and five cars. A man accompanying them, Kamran Baloch, said that they have lost all hope in the PPP and the PML-N.

"Nawaz Sharif started the operation which resulted in innocent Baloch being killed. Imran Khan should speak for the rights of Lyari's residents.” They said that there was no gang war going on in the locality and called for the PTI leader to listen to their demands and help resolve their issues.

Meanwhile, PTI workers in district Central also converged at Hyderi Market in North Nazimabad on Saturday evening to show solidarity with the Azadi marchers. Women, children and men carrying PTI flags and placards gathered at Sharae Shershah Suri - the main thoroughfare of North Nazimabad.

"We are here to show solidarity with our brothers and sisters who have been protesting against the corrupt system for many days," said Wali Khan, a local PTI activist. "We think if we can't join them at Islamabad at least we can give them moral support." The police and Rangers vans were also present to ensure security.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 24^th, 2014.