PPP long march culminates in D-Chowk

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) concluded its long march against the government, reaching the D-Chowk of the federal capital on Tuesday evening, as the party geared up for its final push to dislodge the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Led by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the Awami Long March’ had set off from the Mazar-e-Quaid in Karachi on February 27. On its way, it has had several stopovers in Sindh and Punjab, where Bilawal and other PPP leaders delivered fiery speeches against the prime minister.

The marchers were received by charged party workers. A delegation of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) led by party Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal and party spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb also welcomed the PPP chief.

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The march entered the federal capita via Faizabad Interchange in the morning. According to the PPP official Twitter handle, the local administration had put up barricades in Faizabad but were removed later as more rallies of the party reached D Chowk.

The PPP leadership had refused to move from Faizabad until the way was clear. The party staged a sit-in at the Faizabad Interchange, with leaders announcing that the Awami Long March would only move further once obstacles “created in its way were removed”.

Addressing participants of the rally in Rawalpindi, Bilawal claimed barricades were erected to stop the PPP workers from marching onto the federal capital and reach the D-Chowk.

He also said people from all provinces were part of the movement against the incumbent government. “We have to reach our destination and for that, we invite the people of Rawalpindi to join us and support the democratic effort.”

According to the PPP chief, the opposition would use “democratic weapon” to remove an undemocratic person from power. He further said that the alliance would utilise the power of the masses to oust “an incapable person from the helm”.

Bilawal said that the victory envisaged by the alliance was not far off and that “the sun of democracy will rise soon”. Before concluding his address, the PPP chairman said that he was now aiming to reach D-Chowk to progress further with the agenda of the march.

The anti-government rally later progressed when the way was cleared. According to the PPP’s media cell, workers of the party from Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan had already blocked the roads.