The celebratory mood of protesters continued in the Red Zone as the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s ‘Azadi’ and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT)’s ‘Inqilab’ marches entered their tenth day.
While taking advantage of the weekend, residents of the twin cities were seen heading to the venue of the sit-ins to find a nice spot in order to celebrate what they called “Super Saturday night”.
Music, including party and national songs as well as Qawalis, played a vital role in attracting people to Constitution Avenue. As ‘Super Saturday’ approached, supporters of the protesting parties from Rawalpindi and other surrounding areas, put their weekend plans into practice.
“It’s a Super Saturday for me because I don’t have to go to work tomorrow and I can stay at the sit-in as long as I want,” said Amir Shehzad, a law student.
He further said that with the weather turning pleasant at night, colour was being added to the gathering.
Mohammad Awais, a banker who lives in Satellite Town, Rawalpindi said, “I hope the crowd would be entertained following the speeches as it is a Saturday night.”
He had come prepared for a picnic, with his family in tow and eatables on hand.
Youth living in different hostels in the capital were excited about what they saw as the ‘grand musical night’ and many of them were seen heading towards the venue in flocks to participate in the rallies. “After a long time, the capital has turned alive because of the public gatherings. We can’t afford to miss that,” said the young supporters of the protesting parties.
A visit to the site of the sit-ins revealed that parts of the Red Zone area were literally turned into a ‘dhobi ghat’. People were seen bathing, washing clothes and leaving them out to dry on neatly trimmed hedges on the greenbelt right outside parliament and the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, garment vendors have also set up stalls at Constitution Avenue, taking advantage of the fact many out-of-towners had run out of clean clothes. A large number of people were seen buying T-shirts and trousers.
While talking to The Express Tribune, Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) SSP Asmatullah Junejo said that around 15,000 to 20,000 vehicles were expected to come to the federal capital due to the weekend. To avoid traffic jams and maintain smooth flow of traffic, Junejo said the Convention Centre had been designated as a parking area. “We are expecting heavy traffic and taking extra measures to tackle any issues,” he said.
Welcome wearing out
A Capital Development Authority (CDA) official said the agency was not responsible for facilitating everyone who comes to the capital to stage a protest. He, however, said that the workers of CDA were working in collaboration with the Islamabad administration to avert any untoward incident. “The CDA provides services when the Islamabad administration directs it,” the official said.
Meanwhile, some residents of nearby areas have been less-than-thrilled by the concert environment.
Saira Shah, a resident of F-6, said that her 70-year-old father was a heart patient and was unable to sleep due to the loud noise coming from the site of the sit-ins. “He is compelled to taking sleep medication, yet he still can’t get any sleep. What kind of ‘Azadi’ and ‘Inqilab’ is this, where you snatch someone else’s basic rights,” she asked.
Saira said the most beautiful areas of the capital are becoming dumps and it was becoming difficult to even pass by those areas due to the stench.
Mehmood Achakzai, whose office is across the Prime Minister’s Secretariat, said, “I have not been able to get to my office for three days due to the protesters blocking the route.”
“I have no idea what message these politicians are conveying to the nation and to the world by doing this, we all are under stress now and it has become difficult to stay at home and [on the other hand] they are enjoying music at night,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 24th, 2014.
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