City all set to welcome deposed prime minister

Instead of Quaid and Allama Iqbal, posters of Nawaz dominate city in August

LAHORE: August is a time of year when posters of Quaid-e-Azam and Allama Iqbal dominate various areas of the city, especially the historic Mall Road, as Independence Day falls in the same month.

This year, however, it is a different story as the ruling PML-N is preparing to welcome ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif back to his hometown. The entire leadership of the party has been ordered to make Nawaz’s return to the city, after disqualification, a roaring success.



Speaking to The Express Tribune, provincial minister Bilal Yasin said PML-N had made all arrangements to welcome its leader. He said Sharif’s cavalcade would leave Islamabad for Lahore on Wednesday (August 9). He would travel on Grand Trunk Road and was expected to reach Lahore by Thursday as party workers and supporters had arranged receptions in his honour at various locations.

He would enter the city from Shahdara and reach Data Sahib to offer prayers. At Data Darbar Chowk, Sharif would address a large public gathering for which the party had already made arrangements. “Though PML-N supporters have displayed some banners expressing their love for their leader, the party has held back and is waiting for a go-ahead from the senior leadership. Once Sharif leaves Islamabad, the city will be decorated like a bride to welcome him,” Yasin maintained.

According to the preliminary programme, local MNAs and MPAs of the ruling party would establish reception camps on the route of Sharif’s cavalcade. The first camp will be established at Shahdara Morr, where MNA Muhammad Riaz Malik and provincial minister Khawaja Imran Nazir, along with a large number of party workers, will welcome the former PM.



MPA Ghazali Saleem Butt and PML-N Labour Wing representatives will welcome him at Ravi Toll Plaza. At the same time, National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Saddiq and representatives of the PML-N professional and lawyers’ forums would welcome Nawaz at Azadi Chowk. MNA Shaikh Rohale Asghar, MPA Waheed Gull and party workers will greet him near Timber Market. Federal Commerce Minister Pervaiz Malik and Chaudhry Shahbaz will give a reception at Niazi Chowk, Khawaja Saad Rafiq at Qila Lakshman Singh, Kamran Michael at Lady Willington Hospital and Sohail Shoukat Butt will greet the PML-N leader at Texali Gate.

On the other hand, many people, especially those who support Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf (PTI), believe Nawaz has been disqualified over corruption charges. “The ruling party has no right to display huge portraits of an ousted prime minister, especially during August, the month of the creation of Pakistan,” asserted PTI Central Punjab President Abdul Aleem Khan.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 8^th, 2017.