LAHORE, May 13: A group of women bussed to Islamabad to attend the Istehkam-i-Pakistan rally on Saturday beat the bus driver for the out-of-order air conditioner and returned to Lahore without attending the rally.

Up to 50 women from Nabipura on Gurumangat Road were promised by Samina Khawar, the PML women’s labour wing president, an air-conditioned bus, three-time meals, bottled water and money for attending the Islamabad rally.

The women were to leave for Islamabad at 6am from the PML office in the Union Council 97. But the journey began amid chaos at 12:30pm as the air-conditioner of the bus (RNH-1421) given to them was not functional.

The driver told the women that his bus was ‘impounded’ from a workshop by police and no PML leader had given heed to his pleas that the bus was unfit for long journey.

The disgruntled women also raised voice against the gender bias when they saw ‘privileged’ men being seated in a Daewoo bus.

Their bus later took another wrong turn. Instead of taking to the Motorway, the driver opted for the GT Road. “My bus can break down any time and, on Motorway, I may not find any help,” one of the participants quoted him as saying.

But the route proved costly for the occupants as the ruling party had arranged the distribution of meals and “money envelopes” on the Motorway. The bus could not get anything and drove uninterrupted to Islamabad.

After an hour’s journey, the weather made the bus unbearable to sit in because of its air-tight structure. Some women broke windowpanes to avoid suffocation.

On reaching Islamabad they decided to visit the shrine of Hazrat Bari Imam instead of listening to Musharraf. The driver however was not ready to so because it would have deprived him of rent.

When the party pressed him, he halted the bus. His act annoyed some women who held him hostage at their “heels’ point” and made him lead them to the shrine.

But the bus could not reach the shrine as all roads, except to the rally venue, were closed. At this, the women asked the driver to return to Lahore.

When the president was telling the world that the nation was with him, the Nabipura party had left the capital and by 12:30am it was back at the starting point.

Ms Khawar said she had arranged the best possible for the Nabipura women and could not afford to offend them by not fulfilling her words. She said she had carried up to 500 workers to the rally but one bus turned to GT Road and faced a “little bit inconvenience”.

She said she had paid Rs3,000 from her own pocket to the supervisor of the bus for she had provided refreshment to the women.