PTI restarts mobilisation drive for Islamabad dharna

Party suspended political activities for a day after Quetta attack


Aroosa Shaukat October 26, 2016
PHOTO: TARIQ HASSAN/EXPRESS

LAHORE: A day after the deadly Quetta attack that claimed over 60 lives, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf restarted a mass mobilisation campaign in Lahore for its November 2 Islamabad rally with party leaders reaching out to the people through various platforms.

The party had cancelled its political activities on Tuesday after the terrorist struck at a police training centre in Balochistan’s capital, but with just a week left before its showdown in Islamabad the PTI was back on track on Wednesday mobilising its workers and holding party meetings across the province.

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Various wings of the party have sprung into action with leaders reaching out to various segments of the society to woo the crowds to their protest next week. The party will also reach out to the minorities today in which party leaders including Lahore district’s leadership and leaders including Shafqat Mahmood, Dr Yasmin Rashid and Ejaz Chauhdry will also be present.

As announced earlier this week, the party’s on-foot caravan will leave from Data Darbar for Islamabad’s Zero Point today (Thursday). As many as 25 PTI workers will depart for the capital on foot in a show of solidarity for the demands made by their chairman Imran Khan demanding accountability over the Panama Papers.



Led by Shabbir Sial, the caravan will cover around 260km on foot while stopping over at as many as six points over the next few days before finally reaching their destination in Islamabad.

The caravan is expected to be received by local party leadership at Kamoki, Wazirabad, Gujrat, Jhelum and Sohawa.

Sial said the purpose of the activity was to generate awareness among the people as the small caravan moves along the GT Road. The caravan is expected to cover 45km in its initial leg as it departs from Lahore.

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PTI Punjab’s former president Ejaz Chaudhry, who is the in-charge of arrangements for the caravan, said workers from Lahore would bid farewell to the 25-member convoy before heading out to other parts of the province to mobilise workers from Punjab.

Chaudhry will be moving to Multan and Jhelum in the coming week from where convoys are expected to leave for Islamabad by the end of this month.

Party leaders say their workers will leave in various phases with the initial convoys expected to reach the capital by the end of October in anticipation of any hurdles created by the government to prevent movement towards Islamabad.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 27th, 2016.

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