Eyewitness account: PTI playbook, removing obstacles one at a time

Container-by-container, party workers clear every hurdle in their way

PESHAWAR: Chanting slogans of ‘Go Nawaz, Go’ and dancing to party songs, hundreds of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) activists armed with batons, slingshots and party flags hoisted on their vehicles started marching towards Bani Gala on the Peshawar-Islamabad motorway on Monday.



Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak was leading from the front as the rally started its journey at 4 in the afternoon from the party base-camp at Swabi.

The rally was armed with cranes [for removing containers from the roads], excavators [for removing sand piles] and bike-riders followed by the motorcade of the chief minister, his cabinet members and pedestrians.

The rally was proceeding smoothly until it reached the Haroonabad Bridge on the Motorway which is on the fringes of K-P-Punjab border. The rally movement was halted by the bridge blocked by containers and piles of sand placed after the containers. A total of eight containers were placed on the bridge and the sand piles were dumped after the containers.

As cranes and machinery proceeded to remove the containers, the police and personnel of the Frontier Constabulary waiting for the rally at the other side of the containers’ wall resorted to teargas shelling, turning the area into a battleground.



The protesters were dispersed by the intensity of the shelling because no one could stand by CS gas. Some of the protestors torched the bushes near the motorway to reduce the intensity of teargas while others were busy fighting with the police and personnel of the FC.

“I forgot to bring the mask or a plain cloth along which is why I am too much affected by teargas,” said Zahoor Ahmed, 32, while washing his face with a bottle of water.

Zahoor was committed to reach Islamabad at the call of his party chairman and he was offering his water bottle to others who were rubbing their eyes and cleaning their throats.

The first spell of teargas shelling panicked the protesters and many of them started jumping off the fences enclosing the motorway.

“The teargas contains some kind of chemicals which were causing suffocation and burning their ears along with eyes,” complained Mohammad Ali, an activist from Swabi who was covering his face with his friend in a woollen shawl.

Khalid Khan, an activist of the PTI from Mardan, brought water, blankets and snacks along as he thought they may spend the night on the motorway.

“We would reach Bani Gala at any cost. I am a loyal worker of the PTI. Such cruel attempts of Nawaz government can’t deter me and Insha’Allah we would eat our breakfast at Bani Gala with Imran Khan,” Khalid said, adding the government should let them pass freely by removing the barricades; otherwise, they would be responsible for any damages.



When the police were busy in teargas shelling, a group of protesters broke the fence of the motorway and attacked the police and FC with stones using their slingshots.

As the air was blowing towards the direction where the police were stationed, the combined effect of the stones thrown by protesters and teargas forced the police and the FC to retreat after which the protesters again gathered on the bridge.

Music and party songs were played to stimulate the protesters who were worn out by extensive teargas shelling. In the meantime, cranes and excavators removed the containers’ layers, sand piles and then concrete slabs, opening the path for the rally to move on which then proceeded towards the Burhan Interchange on the Motorway.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 1^st, 2016.