LAHORE: The PML-N has criticised the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s protest that it said is causing losses of billions of rupees to the economy daily.

It has also chided the PTI leadership for trying to take hostage the whole nation with the support of a few hundred people.

Talking to reporters here on Monday, PML-N Media Coordinator Muhammad Mehdi said PTI’s protest had so far caused a loss of around Rs500 billion to the national economy. He claimed by amassing just a few hundred people the PTI leader tried to take the whole nation hostage.

Alleging that both the PTI and PAT were quoting false figures about the number of their supporters in Islamabad, he said a single person covers 2.5 feet while standing in a highly dense crowd. By this standard, he said, for accommodating one million people, as being claimed by both parties, a 7.62km stretch of 100-foot wide road would be required.

But, there were no PTI supporters on Kashmir Road and PAT’s activists on Suhrawardi Road beyond 400 yards, adding the protesters were sitting on the road and that too at a distance from each other, he claimed.

Similarly, Mehdi said at least 20,000 buses with a seating capacity of 50 each were required to transport a million people and if the buses form a trail they would cover a 193km stretch of road. But, not even a couple of hundred buses were accompanying the two marches.

Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2014