PTI worker’s model rifle attracts dharna-goers’ attention

ISLAMABAD:

Gul Nawab, 25, seems eager to go beyond the prevalent anti-government slogans at the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) sit-in. His handmade model of an automatic rifle, comprising sticks, torn party flags, tapes and labeled with the ‘Go Nawaz Go’ stickers, is attracting many at the sit-in.

“We will defeat the fake government with fake weapons,” quipped Nawab, who hailed from Mardan. He said he had prepared the gun in response to “Gullu Butts”.

Gullu Butt rose to fame after he was seen smashing car windows during the June 17 Model Town incident in Lahore. A driver by profession, Nawab joined the PTI rally in Lahore on August 14. He said he would leave the sit-in only when Imran Khan asks him to.

Asked why he thought of creating a weapon, Nawab presented the example of Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan and said that “it was important to have weapons against the oppressors”.

Some of the participants of the sit-in present defended Nawab in using his creativity on weapons while some others they were against the use of all kinds of weapons, real or fake, in order to achieve their goals.

The sit-in participants said they obeyed remained peaceful when bullets were fired on them during clashes on August 30 when the PTI and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) tried to march towards the Prime Minister House.

Muhammad Yaqoob, a PTI worker who appeared to be in his 30s, said that the weapon was made to vent their symbolic aggression against the oppressors. “Our protest is against the bureaucracy,” he said.

He said keeping weapons was not only a Pashtun tradition but also a result of continuous war-like situation in the province. “Keeping weapons make people feel more protected.”

Nawab said that he used to draw Kalashnikov on his school books and copies, adding that he couldn’t continue his education because of the poor economic conditions of the family. “I see hope in Imran Khan’s words when he says everyone will get quality education once the PTI comes to power.”

He, however, had no answer when told that education in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was already the responsibility of the PTI through provincial government, which led by the party.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 11^th, 2014.