The Two Marches shooting from Lahore

[Asian.Century]

Marchers ready to shoot from Lahore

LAHORE - The PTI is set to start its Azadi March from the Zaman Park residence of Imran Khan on Thursday (today) with the plan to stay put in Islamabad till the ouster of the present government.

The prime minister allowed PTI to go ahead with the march after the mediation of the JI chief, although the Lahore High Court restrained both the PTI and PAT from launching their Azadi and Inqilaab marches.

The Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) is also determined to undertake its Inqilaab March despite the fact that the government is not in the mood to let them come out on the streets. Party leaders gave final touches to their march plan on Wednesday night.

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) march will be led by Imran Khan from his residence after offering a special prayer for achieving the targets of the march.

The Azadi March, according to PTI Punjab President Ijaz Chaudhry, will start from Zaman Park at 10am. Passing from The Mall Road, GPO Chowk, Karbala Gamay Shah, Data Darbar and Azadi Chowk, the marchers will cross Ravi Bridge and move on to the federal capital via GT Road.

PTI senior leader Dr Arif Alvi told The Nation that their activists have been asked to take along mats for sitting and Gur (jaggery) and Chanay (grams) for eating, tentatively for three days, while the remaining necessary items would be provided to them by party administration.

A huge number of PTI marchers had reached Zaman Park by late Wednesday night while more were arriving from different parts of Punjab.

The outer security cordon of Imran’s residence was being looked after by members of Punjab Police, Special Branch and Counter Terrorism Department, while the inner cordon was in control of PTI Razakars (volunteers) and private security people.

Thousands of enthusiastic male and female PAT activists too were ready to try to break through the heavy police siege in Model Town, waiting for instructions from Dr Tahirul Qadri, who has yet to give the launch call for the Inqilaab March.

According to PAT workers, they were ready to cope with any situation. However, they said they would remain peaceful as per orders of their leader.

Thousands of male party workers have been sitting in a public park in front of PAT secretariat. A stage has been set up for the address of party leaders to the workers. Party songs and national songs were being run on loudspeakers whereas some young people were dancing. The female workers were singing the party songs to the beats of drums.

A senior PAT leader when contacted said the final route of the march would be decided on its launch but tentatively they have decide to pass through the Faisal Town Main Boulevard and moving around Punjab University they would take to Canal Bank, The Mall Road to GT Road.

Moreover, the Punjab government has made strict arrangements for the security of the province keeping in view Independence Day and the marches. Primarily, Police and QRF commandoes will look after the security, while Rangers and Pak Army troops can also come to the aid of civil administration if any extraordinary situation arises.

Lahore administrator and DCO Captain (r) Muhammad Usman has imposed Section 144 in Model Town and Sadar Division effective from 12pm Wednesday to 12pm Thursday.

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[Ghareeb_Da_Baal]

so what tam do the processions start today?

 

[A.M.]

Here we go. Allah aaj aam logon ki hifazat karin.

 

[arushbhai]

This is the end of the game. One out of three is going to win. Its PMLN vs PTI vs Martial Law. Lets see what happens. I know the crowd wont be having a sit in for weeks, majority of the people will disperse within few days and the fact that the whole D chowk has been dug up for construction will add to their misery. Lets see what happens. There is way too much confusion. One major reason for confusion is that the military hasnt even hinted about its plans. They have never been so damn neutral. They are highly unpredictable

 

[Asian.Century]

PMLN Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan Press Conference on two Marches (13th August 2014)

 

[Asian.Century]

Independence Day protests present Pakistan's Nawaz Sharif with his toughest test yet

The government could be headed for a confrontation with opposition leaders Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri, who are leading marches on Islamabad today.

Today is Pakistan’s Independence Day. Yet the mood in the capital, Islamabad, is not one of celebration but panic. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif faces his toughest challenge yet as two rival politicians threaten to derail Pakistan’s already fragile democracy by staging simultaneous protests to call for his head.

The first politician is cricketer-turned-demagogue Imran Khan. Unhappy with winning only the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province in last year’s parliamentary election, Imran is keen to challenge Sharif’s vote base in Punjab. He first tried to gain traction by alleging that last year's election was rigged in four constituencies.

Once the courts and election tribunals rebutted his accusations, he claimed that the courts, then headed by Supreme Court Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, were party to the conspiracy. Other who are in on the plot, said Khan, are Pakistan’s largest media company, the Jang Group, and Najam Sethi, the veteran journalist who was Punjab's caretaker chief minister of Punjab in the run-up to the election.

These wild-eyed accusations should have been dismissed quickly, but Sharif’s government has pussyfooted around them, giving them greater weight than they merited. To drive home his point, Khan has planned an Azadi March on the capital today. Up until a few days ago, Sharif had ignored Khan, but then panicked and subsequently over-reacted when he decided that Khan's demonstration could pose a threat to his regime.

The government has invoked Article 245, a clause allowing the army to be called in to ensure law and order. While the government claimed that the ongoing operation against the Taliban has made the capital vulnerable, it was evident that this is a ploy to stop the Azadi March.

Ban on protestsSharif has banned all protests, blockading Islamabad and Lahore, Punjab’s biggest city. The blockade and enhanced security has made it difficult for people and supplies to go in and out of Punjab.

The protest, while ostensibly about electoral reform, can also be seen as a last-ditch attempt by Khan to grab power. He has exhausted all other avenues to the prime minister’s office but is too impatient to wait until the next election. Khan wants Sharif’s government to resign and call for a fresh election.

The second politician who aims to march on the capital on Independence Day is Tahirul Qadri, the leader of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek, which did not even contest last year’s election. Qadri is a cleric who runs an Islamic charity from Canada, his country of residence. His grievances with the ruling government have been less clear than Khan’s but his demands are simple: a revolution.

Qadri’s origins and motivations are obscure, and many suspect that he is backed by Pakistan’s powerful military, whose dislike for Sharif is an open secret. Sharif was ignominiously overthrown in a military coup in 1999 and sent into exile in Saudi Arabia. The army has also bristled at his decision to try former military chief Pervez Musharraf for treason.

By encouraging Qadri, the military could be looking to weaken Sharif’s rule without staging a coup. In fact, Qadri staged similar protests in January last year that also threatened to bring down the government before frantic backdoor negotiations defused the crisis.

Disproportionate responseSo far, Sharif’s actions have only increased his troubles. In June, heavy-handed police action resulted in the deaths of nine Qadri supporters outside his home in Lahore. Two more people were killed this weekend when his supporters again tried to reach his house, blocked by policemen and barriers. The disproportionate response has only strengthened his resolve, Qadri claims.

Khan is also aware of the army lurking in the background, but has absolved himself of any responsibility. "The responsibility will lie squarely on Nawaz Sharif if the army steps in," he said.

Sharif himself alluded to the dangers of the march when he decried autocratic rule in a statement on Monday. "Dictatorships have only brought us misery and trouble…Pakistan has no options but democracy," he said.

Sharif is acutely aware of the damage that these long marches can do to Pakistan’s nascent democratic project. After all, he took part in many of them himself, bringing down Benazir Bhutto’s government twice in the 1990s with military support.

This time around, he has been keen to reach out to other parties, including the opposition People’s Party either as mediators or for counsel, despite Khan proclaiming that "the time for negotiations is over".

This Independence Day, there won’t be time for reflection on nationhood, the past or the future. Instead, Pakistanis will be holding their collective breath, wondering where their country’s politics will be taking them next.
We welcome your comments at letters@scroll.in.

 

[Asian.Century]

So, this march will reach Isb on 15th August. 14th ko nahi pohanchna thia toh kisi aur din rakh letay!! Ruined 14th August.

 

[Asian.Century]

the new Azadi Interchange near Minar-e-Pakistan is extremely, extremely beautiful....never seen Pakistanis Taxpayers money spend by Shahbaz shariff in such great manner.

Really beautiful Azadi Interchange, both PTI and PAT admired this new piece of architect for Lahore.

 

[Proudpakistaniguy]

PMLN Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan Press Conference on two Marches (13th August 2014)

very well said by him