Men on a mission: Dasti, supporters cycling for a ‘just system’

They plan to table three bills in the National Assembly.

LAHORE: MNA Jamshed Ahmad Dasti’s bicycle convoy left for Gujranwala on Wednesday after camping near Minar-i-Pakistan grounds on Tuesday night.  

“We were not given permission to set up tents on the Minar-i-Pakistan ground,” Dasti said before setting off for Gujranwala. “So we camped outside the gate. We will stay for a night in Gujranwala and start our journey towards Islamabad the next morning.”

Dasti arrived in Lahore with 35 of his supporters on cycles on Tuesday. He had set off from Muzaffargarh on March 25. “I am planning to move three bills in the National Assembly,” Dasti said.

The first bill demands capital punishment for political leaders found guilty of corruption. The second bill demands land reforms. “Large tracts of land owned by feudal lords must be distributed among the poor,” he said. The third bill seeks to bar businessmen from entering politics. Dasti’s other demands include paying the prime minister the minimum wage or raising labourers’ salary to that of the PM’s. He said only those over the age of 68 years should be allowed to contest elections.

Dasti said he had cycled almost 80 kilometres every day and people had welcomed him wherever he had stopped. “I will stop in several cities before arriving in Islamabad. I will expend all my energy to protect people’s rights…I will carry on this work till my last breath,” he said.

He said wherever he had stopped, labourers and workers had showered him and his team with rose petals. “The working class and labourers know that I stand for them. I am fighting against the corrupt in the government for them.”

He said every political party tried to manipulate workers and people. “Even the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf had sold party tickets for money. I am against this system and will fight it till it’s changed,” he said.

Sohail Akhtar Ghauri, one of Dasti’s supporters, said they had slept in tents on road sides at night and travelled during the day. He said they had cooked outdoors and had not accepted invitations to stay in any one’s home during their journey from Muzaffargarh.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 2^nd, 2015.