March 16, 2008	Sunday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 7, 1429

LAHORE, March 15: Six days, 4,000 stickers and 20,000 leaflets later, Black Flag Week protests by citizen activists and students neared a close with a penultimate protest rally – the last to be held at Liberty roundabout – here on Saturday.

Around 100 people came to attend the event: an assorted crew of university students, young and middle aged professionals, housewives and others, all joined together for the goal of restoring the judiciary to the state it was in before Nov 3, 2007.

They were drawn, as usual, from the middle-classes. Chanting slogans for the restoration of the judiciary and the overthrow of President Pervez Musharraf, they made two rounds of the roundabout, all the while placing stickers on cars passing by and distributing flyers among the public.

Six days on, the protesters might have hoped that at least some ordinary members of the public, to whom thousands of flyers have been handed out in the week, would have joined them. But this was not to be.

Qalander, an activist, says: “Yes, the movement is limited right now, but it’s also very necessary. Even if more people have not joined us on the streets, there is an awakening from inside.”

Usman, a businessman who has been present for most of the week’s activities, added: “I think it’s been successful in raising awareness. People proved they cared for these issues when they went to the ballot box.”

Asked what the next step for the movement was, he said: “We’ll step back for now and wait for the government to be formed. Then we’ll be protesting and reminding them of their promises once more, outside the National Assembly in Islamabad. If Musharraf is the obstacle to an independent judiciary, we’ll be protesting at the GHQ.”About Concerned Citizens of Pakistan’s (CCP) pledge to help the people injured in the March 11 blasts, Rukhsana Imran Ali said that the CCP was in the process of looking at “the most needy” cases and coordinating with the relevant authorities. She said all financial assistance would come from the CCP’s own funds, drawn from its members, who had on average contributed Rs5,000 each.

The rally ended about an hour after it began with and a rendition of the national anthem, and the protesters dispersed peacefully.