Gearing up: PTI workers make way to Islamabad for Azadi March
Groups of 15 to 20 workers are travelling to the federal capital in buses and trains.
KARACHI:
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Karachi chapter activists and supporters have started travelling to Islamabad and Lahore to participate in the 'Azadi March' that the party plans to organise in the federal capital on August 14.
According to party sources, groups comprising 15 to 20 party workers and supporters are travelling to the Punjab in public buses and trains. They are taking precautions to conceal their motive to travel to the federal capital due to fear of being detained.
"We are keeping it a secret because we fear the government will arrest or harass them on the way," said a party leader, seeking anonymity. "We plan to take around 20,000 people from Karachi alone."
PTI Sindh spokesperson Dawa Khan Sabir told The Express Tribune that they have started preparing for the Azadi March and will try to get as many supporters from Karachi as possible. "We have printed handbills, party flags and banners and will set up mobilisation camps in the city from August 8 onwards," he said, adding that they have contacted Islamabad and Lahore-bound bus services to provide vehicles to transport the participants. "We have also asked our workers and supporters to arrange transportation on their own if they can," he said. PTI Youth Wing will conduct a rally from Hasan Square to Mazar-e-Quaid on August 9, to attract more participants for the march.
PTI senior leader Subhan Ali Sahil said that they will start showing their political strength and street power from August 11, when party workers and supporters will start moving to Islamabad for the march.
Sahil alleged that the federal government was threatening intercity bus owners and operators with cancellation of their route permits if they transported PTI workers for the Azadi March. "Such attempts show that the government is in distress but we will show our strength after August 10," he said. "No one can stop PTI workers and supporters from participating in the march."
Published in The Express Tribune, August 7th,2014.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Karachi chapter activists and supporters have started travelling to Islamabad and Lahore to participate in the 'Azadi March' that the party plans to organise in the federal capital on August 14.
According to party sources, groups comprising 15 to 20 party workers and supporters are travelling to the Punjab in public buses and trains. They are taking precautions to conceal their motive to travel to the federal capital due to fear of being detained.
"We are keeping it a secret because we fear the government will arrest or harass them on the way," said a party leader, seeking anonymity. "We plan to take around 20,000 people from Karachi alone."
PTI Sindh spokesperson Dawa Khan Sabir told The Express Tribune that they have started preparing for the Azadi March and will try to get as many supporters from Karachi as possible. "We have printed handbills, party flags and banners and will set up mobilisation camps in the city from August 8 onwards," he said, adding that they have contacted Islamabad and Lahore-bound bus services to provide vehicles to transport the participants. "We have also asked our workers and supporters to arrange transportation on their own if they can," he said. PTI Youth Wing will conduct a rally from Hasan Square to Mazar-e-Quaid on August 9, to attract more participants for the march.
PTI senior leader Subhan Ali Sahil said that they will start showing their political strength and street power from August 11, when party workers and supporters will start moving to Islamabad for the march.
Sahil alleged that the federal government was threatening intercity bus owners and operators with cancellation of their route permits if they transported PTI workers for the Azadi March. "Such attempts show that the government is in distress but we will show our strength after August 10," he said. "No one can stop PTI workers and supporters from participating in the march."
Published in The Express Tribune, August 7th,2014.