ISLAMABAD: After the recent speeches of the Pakistan Awaami Tehreek (PAT) and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), it appears that participants of the sit-ins on Constitution Avenue are likely to return home before the upcoming Eidul Adha.

The symbols of revolution though will stay on in Islamabad, long after the revolutionaries have gone.

Slogans painted on government and private buildings, signboards, gates and cars tell a tale of the last few weeks when no law prevailed in the occupied area. Visiting the Red Zone, it feels like there is no constitution on Constitution Avenue.

Messages of ‘Go Nawaz Go’, ‘Inqilab March’, ‘Azaadi March’, ‘Hum betay kis kay? Tahir kay (Whose sons are we of? Tahir’s) and ‘Tabdeeli aa nahi rahi, tabdeli aa gayi hai!’ (Change is not forth coming. Change is here!) mock the rulers and rule of law alike. The participants have also left the names of their beloveds on government property.

Graffiti in Red Zone may stay as reminders of sit-ins

Asim Khichi, the spokesman for the Capital Development Authority (CDA, told Dawn that wall chalking was prohibited in Islamabad and it was unfortunate that the participants of the sit-ins were writing slogans on signboards situated on the premises of the Red Zone.

“It is an unnecessary move; taxpayers’ money is spent to install these signboards and to maintain them,” he said.

On the other hand, the participants defended the graffiti, saying it was natural for people to express themselves by writing slogans against corrupt rulers who fail to deliver on their promises.

Published in Dawn, October 1st , 2014