Nov 30 rally: PTI all set to put up a spirited show

Imran says he will put his supporters to the test; promises to reveal real plan today

FAISALABAD/ PESHAWAR/ ISLAMABAD/ LAHORE:

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf is expecting at least half a million people to turn up at its Islamabad rally today (Sunday) as the party’s supporters drive home the need for a proper audit of the May 2013 polls.

The rally – which began to resemble a solo flight earlier this week when PTI allies decided not to join the event – has been taken very seriously by the government which has amassed heavy security for the event.

The PTI has already completed the 100-day mark for its ongoing sit-in but has fallen short of substantial results and the November 30 rally is considered to reinvigorate its apparently fading movement and put more pressure on the government. The November 30 call was given after receiving encouraging response from the masses in public rallies in different cities all across the country except Balochistan. Although the PTI invited its allies – particularly Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), its coalition partner in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) – both decided not to join the rally.

It was the PAT workers, who went hand in hand with the PTI when they marched towards the high security Red Zone of the federal capital on August 30 but this time the PTI will be on its own to carry on what it calls its struggle against alleged rigging.

“We are expecting around 500,000 people to gather at this place on Sunday; however so far we have got only 50,000 chairs,” the PTI’s jalsa organiser Ali Nawaz Awan told The Express Tribune.

He said the organisers have set up more than 20 temporary washrooms for males and females and placed big water containers on both sides of the stage. “Four LED screens have been installed at the D-Chowk, two at the end of the rally site and one each on right and left side of the stage,” he said.

He said the PTI workers would manage the internal security of the rally while outside would be managed by the law enforcement agencies.

The government has made it clear that the law would take its course in case the protesters tried to disrupt law and order. However, chances of any clash are minimal as it will be damaging for both the sides. The government has also sealed the Red Zone except for three places from where protesters can enter it after clearance and crossing 25 walk-through gates.

PTI leader Dr Arif Alvi said: “We will remain peaceful but Imran Khan will not be able to stop every single worker in case the administration resorts to torture against protesters.”

Imran has a plan

Talking to his supporters on the eve of this rally, PTI chief Imran Khan told his followers on Saturday that he was going to put them to a difficult test, adding that he has a plan for them.

“I will give the real plan on Sunday (today),” Imran Khan said, adding that there are several contingency plans in case the main plan does not work out. He said the Azadi march was the last resort and the sit-in will continue till ‘justice is served’.

He said his party has learnt a lesson from these 108 days of sit-in. “We have learnt that no one can defeat a nation which does not accept it,” he added.

Party options

Party sources told The Express Tribune that several proposals – to be announced on November 30 – were under consideration and in this regard the senior leadership held a meeting on Saturday at the residence of Jahangir Tareen to reach a decision.

However, one thing is clear that party workers would return after the rally and would not be joining the sit-in en masse, as was done by the PAT. Imran Khan has already exhausted the option of civil disobedience.

There is a possibility that Imran will give a deadline to the government to constitute a judicial commission as proposed by his party for investigations into rigging allegations. The party is also considering starting a sit-in in Lahore and to give calls, at random dates, of wheel jam strikes in different cities.

In addition to security arrangements, the government also opted for propaganda against the PTI through some paid television advertisements, showing Imran Khan’s princely life style despite criticism on others and the way he uses derogatory language.

JUI-F to block roads on Sunday

PTI workers, according to the party, have started reaching Islamabad from far flung areas and the rest would reach early morning on Sunday. However, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam’s (JUI-F) call to block all the main roads in protest against the killing of a senior party leader in Sindh is likely to create hurdles for the PTI.  Though the PTI has asked office bearers and ticket holders to ensure maximum number of workers, major participation is expected from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), where the party is in power.

The PTI is expecting participation of tens of thousands of workers from the K-P. “I will lead these protesters to march towards Islamabad,” the PTI provincial secretary general Khalid Masood told The Express Tribune.

He said the K-P Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak is also likely to go with the rally but there is no final decision as yet.

He said workers from Peshawar district will leave for Islamabad via motorway toll plaza at around 11:00am and they will be joined by workers from Mardan, Swabi, Charsadda and Nowshera.

Masood said his party workers from the Hazara division will be led to Islamabad by the PTI’s K-P chief Azam Swati. “The internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Khyber and Waziristan will also attend the PTI protest,” he said.

Rally from Punjab

The PTI’s main caravan will depart from Gaddafi Stadium on Sunday (today) and unlike August 14 workers will be travelling in groups from both the motorway and GT Road.

PTI Punjab President Ejaz Chaudhry told The Express Tribune that some 4,000 will initially leave Lahore but the caravan will keep growing and hundreds of thousands of people will reach Islamabad. According to the plan, caravans from 12 districts will meet near Kala Shah Kaku and from there will go together towards Islamabad via GT Road, he said.

Ejaz Chaudhry said the government had not discussed any security plan and in case the government tried to create hurdles in way of the caravans, the responsibility will be with the government.

The government has once again made special security arrangements and deployed 22,000 security personnel.

In addition, Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Administration has imposed a one-day ban on pillion riding in the capital on Sunday as Section 144 is already in place in the capital city.


Published in The Express Tribune, November 30^th, 2014.