PTI Jalsa at Liaqat Bagh

Nilofer’s Corner

PTI Jalsa at Liaqat Bagh

I tagged along to the PTI Jalsa at the infamous Liaqat Bagh with a little trepidation. Two Prime Ministers had lost their lives there and with our famed law and order situation well it seemed a tad risky. Nevertheless, so many had been planning to go so I thought challo let what has to be Be!

The journey from Chak Shezad all the way to Liaqat Bagh was a sight to see; cars, vans, motorcycles all carrying PTI Red Green and White flags flew everywhere  Wow! I didn’t realize how big this gathering was going to be; the sense of anticipation building up! What was incredible was the sense of comradeships between all  on the road, all hooting honking waving at each other, all smiles cheeky and all! At one point a very excited pedestrian decided to leap into the back of a truck in front of us, correctly assuming he’d hitch a ride all the way to the Jalsa. Where otherwise a fight would have broken out we all just laughed! 

It was heart-warming to see Pakistanis excited and out! Cars from all directions moving towards one point, one goal inspired- for a change! As we parked and walked towards the Park, the streets were full of stalls, hawkers of all sorts, selling their wares, food, badges, scarves, t-shirts all on sale. We had walked into a festival not a political rally! Kids, young and old, families, men and women all dressed in green red white, many with painted faces wearing T-shirts of Imran Khan and PTI surrounded us! I don’t know if Jalsas are usually so full of positive energy, but this promised to be one entertaining one!

I had heard on Twitter that PTI had paid young folk Rs 300 to attend the Jalsa, and were enticing bored Pakistanis with some musical entertainment?! Of course I immediately began to investigate and asked random people around me why did they come, had they any incentive to attend? A couple of friends were also tasked to randomly ask people similar questions. Unfortunate for those who would like to have these allegations confirmed, not one person we asked answered in the affirmative.

We entered the Bagh; thousands of people were sitting, running around with flags, men and women all together. We had entered in to a square ground which was by 6pm pretty packed! I don’t know how all those outside were going to fit into this ground?  I suppose the speakers would ensure the speakers would be heard outside as well. The security was quite slim; there were policemen and women frisky you when you entered but that were the last I saw of them in the 5 hours we were there.

Someone approached us to guide us if we wanted to go to a women’s enclosure. We choose not to and decided to grab the few chairs left in the center of the Bagh. I have never seen so many flags waving. Kids on top of 100 feet trees, all I could think of was, don’t fall! How they climbed up and down like squirrels’ was quite a sight! Youth! What they can do!

Pumped music between speeches  indicated the next speaker on the podium;  Khan sahib was expected at 8pm. Curious kids approached us, supporters of the party chit chatted, some had been at the Bagh since the morning, having traveled from  KPK and Punjab. Folks from all over the country had driven up to show their support for PTI.

What did PTI mean to them I wondered? The overwhelming sentiment amongst the teenagers and there were hundreds who were visibly very excitable just wanted a change and ‘khan sahib was clean’ the rest of them are ‘lotas’. It was incredible the resentment towards politicians who didn’t have loyalty to a single party.  Something to think about for the PTI leadership.

At Imran Khan’s arrival the capacity full ground just burst into hysteria! Ah I thought he’s arrived. His speech which referred to tax evasion resonated so strongly in the crowd another round of hysteria erupted. Before Imran could continue his message he had to command them to be quiet and sit down quietly. For the first time I witnessed the power he actually had over people. This very young, testostrum driven crowd actually quietly sat down and began to listen. Shooing those who continued to talk.  Pretty neat I thought! Hmmm he may be naïve, IK that is, but he surely can control an unruly excited bunch!

IK’s basic message of education is the key to your success made sense. His repeated message that change can only come if You exercise your right as a citizen naturally also made sense. No point accusing and abusing your corrupt political economic managers if you don’t actively participate in your politics. Tax evasion by elite and inequitable distribution of state funds also made sense. The use of stories, examples of the Prophet p.b.u.h were heavily used, and I’m sure also resonated with a lot of people in the Jalsa, but, made me a tad uncomfortable. We need to be able to convince our citizens that our moral ethical standards must be rooted in the present. Pakistan is a plural society and although IK has talked about tolerance, if religious idiom is used amongst a primarily uneducated (in religion too) folk- it can become the source and continued persecution of many Pakistanis.  The place for religion is private, in my opinion, and our polity must be blind when it comes to social legal justice in Pakistan. That is the only sound future for Pakistan. If our leaders don’t demonstrate leadership by advocating this how will be move forward?