The other side: Harried citizens yield to shutdown
“My motorcycle is out of fuel, the petrol station is just across the chowk but the protesters aren’t letting me cross"
LAHORE:
“My motorcycle is out of fuel. The petrol station is just across the chowk but the protesters aren’t letting me cross and there is no other fuel station I can go to,” Mehroze Arif, a telecommunications engineering student, said. He was among several citizens stranded at Walton Chowk after Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf workers closed Walton Road for traffic on Monday.
Azam Ali, a resident of Iqbal Town, said he had tried to leave for Islamabad from Babu Sabu and Multan Road but could not. He said that he had requested protesters to allow him passage several times but they had refused. “I support the PTI but locking down the city this way is just folly. Political parties should show their strength at the polls, not through protest demonstrations,” he said.
Muzzamil Ali, a resident of Kamahan Road, was stranded in his car at Chungi Amer Sidhu. He was bellowing at protesters to let him pass. “My house is two streets away. I have been stuck here for two hours,” he said.
At GPO Chowk several PTI men got into arguments with men on motorcyles. Muhammad Asghar, an elderly man on a motorcycle, said, “How can they create a new Pakistan by blocking roads?” Traffic police intervened eventually and helped him pass through.
Farhan Qayyum, a pharmaceutical company representative, said he had gone about his business and was not affected by the PTI’s protest. “I roamed around in various parts of the city for my work.”
Amir Bhatti, who was on his motorcycle near Race Course Park, said he was not part of any protest.
“I have come only to watch what’s going on,” he said. Several children and young people, who did not attend their universities or schools, were seen playing cricket in the streets.
For many citizens, rickshaws were the only mode of public transport available.
Several PTI workers were seen stopping a rickshaw driver from entering Anarkali Bazaar. They dragged him out of the rickshaw and argued with him for some time till he turned his vehicle around and took another route.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 16th, 2014.
“My motorcycle is out of fuel. The petrol station is just across the chowk but the protesters aren’t letting me cross and there is no other fuel station I can go to,” Mehroze Arif, a telecommunications engineering student, said. He was among several citizens stranded at Walton Chowk after Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf workers closed Walton Road for traffic on Monday.
Azam Ali, a resident of Iqbal Town, said he had tried to leave for Islamabad from Babu Sabu and Multan Road but could not. He said that he had requested protesters to allow him passage several times but they had refused. “I support the PTI but locking down the city this way is just folly. Political parties should show their strength at the polls, not through protest demonstrations,” he said.
Muzzamil Ali, a resident of Kamahan Road, was stranded in his car at Chungi Amer Sidhu. He was bellowing at protesters to let him pass. “My house is two streets away. I have been stuck here for two hours,” he said.
At GPO Chowk several PTI men got into arguments with men on motorcyles. Muhammad Asghar, an elderly man on a motorcycle, said, “How can they create a new Pakistan by blocking roads?” Traffic police intervened eventually and helped him pass through.
Farhan Qayyum, a pharmaceutical company representative, said he had gone about his business and was not affected by the PTI’s protest. “I roamed around in various parts of the city for my work.”
Amir Bhatti, who was on his motorcycle near Race Course Park, said he was not part of any protest.
“I have come only to watch what’s going on,” he said. Several children and young people, who did not attend their universities or schools, were seen playing cricket in the streets.
For many citizens, rickshaws were the only mode of public transport available.
Several PTI workers were seen stopping a rickshaw driver from entering Anarkali Bazaar. They dragged him out of the rickshaw and argued with him for some time till he turned his vehicle around and took another route.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 16th, 2014.