At last: Azadi train arrives, students barred to make way for VIPs

As the train arrived, the platform echoed with national songs and the anthem .

KARACHI:

A group of enthusiastic students was left dismayed as they were told to stand back in order to allow the 'VIPs' and media personnel a first glimpse of the much-awaited Azadi train.

The train that had begun its journey from Islamabad's Margalla Railway Station on August 12, reached Karachi on Monday, September 8, at 7:30pm.

“No,” shouted the students, refusing to budge. “We will not move. We waited for almost 27 days and want to participate in the event.”

Nonetheless, the students were left with no other option but to give up as the teachers warned them that if they disobeyed, they will not be allowed to participate in the four-day festivities or even look at the Azadi train.

As the train arrived, the platform echoed with national songs and the national anthem played by the railway police band, while folk singers danced to the tunes.

Commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, Railways divisional superintendent Nisar Memon and other officials of the Pakistan Railways and Karachi district administration, along with a few students who were supposed to present tableaux, welcomed the passengers while showering rose petals on them.

“A total of 106 employees of Pakistan Railways, federal information ministry, lok virsa, artists, folk singers and technical staff have travelled on it,” said Nazar Muhammad, one of the employees of Pakistan railways who had boarded the train from Islamabad. “We stopped for one or two hours at each railway station. At some places, we had to stay 24 to 48 hours. But it was an amazing experience because people have warmly welcomed us.”

The idea of this special train with 14 carriages and five floats, depicting the culture of the four provinces and Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir, was conceived by the Pakistan Railways. Four galleries have been established in this special train, related to the Independence movement, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Pakistan Railways and Ministry of Information, where replicas of national heroes, rare photos of the Independence movement and soldiers who laid down their lives while defending the country, and equipment used by railways about a century ago, have been put on display.

“The four-day entry that will continue till September 11 is free in these air-conditioned galleries and cultural floats where people, including men, women, children and students, can see the well-organized pictorial history and rich culture of our country,” said the commissioner while briefing the media.

The monuments include Minar-e-Pakistan, Shahi Qila, Bab-e-Khyber, Mausoleum of Quaid-e-Azam and his Ziarat residency, traditional houses, rivers, boats, mountains and deserts, all of which depict the culture of Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhawa, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.

Presenting the tableaux, students performed on stage dressed in different cultural attires. A few girls and boys with faux moustaches pasted on their upper lips and played the role of Allama Iqbal. One of them sported a Jinnah cap.   In the end, in a song titled, 'duniya ki siyasat k ajab rang hain nyaray', some students played the roles of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan and Pakistan Awami Tehreek chief Tahirul Qadri, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and former president Asif Ali Zardari.

“We don't know whether the Azadi march in Islamabad will bring any tangible results,” said Railway school headmistress Shaista Nasreen. “But we are sure that this Azadi train has reached its final destination. Let us celebrate and educate our people about our independence.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 10^th, 2014.