PPP loyalists insist they are down but not out
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KARACHI: Standing on the platform of the monument to Karsaz blast victims on Sharea Faisal, misty-eyed Mohammad Farooq Awan pays homage to the victims as he mourns the tragedy and welcomes caravans of his party fellows coming from the interior of Sindh to the Pakistan Peoples Party public meeting in Bagh-i-Jinnah on Saturday.
His grief is different from that of more than 150 families who lost their loved ones in the twin bomb attacks on Benazir Bhutto’s homecoming caravan on Oct 18, 2007. Farooq’s younger brother Rizwan Awan was among the 21 PPP workers who have been declared missing since the blasts.
“What pain this day refreshes every year, no one can imagine,” he said. “We are among those unlucky souls who lost their loved ones but don’t know either they are dead or alive. But life goes on. This year’s anniversary is much more different as we see our party moving ahead for a much-needed revival,” he said.
Seven years ago this day, the mood was electric and PPP workers were dancing to the tunes of party songs around Ms Bhutto’s truck who had returned home after over seven years in self-exile when two bombs struck the rally and left in its wake blood-stained memories for the heirs of the victims.
The attack left over 200 dead and many more others injured while 21 youngsters’ fate was never determined and they are still considered to be ‘missing persons of the Karsaz bombing’.
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Rizwan was the youngest among seven siblings and a resident of Gulshan-i-Iqbal’s Block 3 but even his missing status has failed to shake Farooq’s decades-old loyalty with the Bhuttos and the PPP.
On a sunny Saturday afternoon, Farooq stood by his party fellows and friends at Karsaz to welcome processions coming from Sindh cities for the rally at Bagh-i-Jinnah.
“Would you believe I am still jobless,” he said with a smile while lighting a cigarette. “Not once but dozens of times, I have been promised job by party leaders. Only recently chairman sahib [Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari] called me to offer Eid prayers with him at Bilawal House where he promised me a job. Let’s see but we are not going to desert the party for that reason.”
Farooq’s thoughts resonate with the mood of the PPP rank and file at the rally. Hundreds of thousands of people from Sindh cities pouring into Karachi for the PPP jalsa have somewhat similar stories to share but they were all upbeat and charged at the party reverting to its roots.
From the Jail Chowrangi’s overhead bridge, a thin line of men, women and children could be seen walking towards the rally venue. A very few of them who appeared to be Karachiites were aware of the exact location of Bagh-i-Jinnah. A lane of the road was reserved for parking of hundreds of vehicles which had arrived from different parts of the country.
The rally-goers appeared to be more emotionally charged than they were seen on similar occasions in the past. Some youngsters had perched themselves atop streetlight poles, trees and wherever they could find a foothold along Shahrah-i-Quaideen just to catch a glimpse of their leader.
A large number of rally-goers who had jumped over the fence around the Quaid-i-Azam mausoleum were seen roaming on the premises which had been closed for visitors that day.
From Karsaz to Jail Chowrangi and from M.A. Jinnah Road extension to the Bagh-i-Jinnah each and every electric pole, hoarding and concrete structures along the road were decorated with party flags and huge portraits of Mr Bhutto-Zardari, Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari.
When the helicopter, provided by real estate tycoon Malik Riaz, carrying Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari appeared over the meeting venue, many overenthusiastic activists climbed high platforms to try to catch a glimpse of their leader.
“I just want to catch a glimpse of Bilawal and then I’ll jump down ... I promise,” one of the three youngsters was heard arguing with a policeman who had asked them to climb down from the mausoleum’s fence. The scenes were common and the policemen appeared helpless to enforce their own ‘code of conduct’.
Inside Bagh-i-Jinnah, over a 40-foot-high stage, a squad of well-dressed women attracted everyone’s curiosity. Free to move in the restricted area dedicated only for security officials and PPP leaders, the women were later disclosed to the media to be officials of the special security unit of the Sindh police.
“They were mistaken for PPP volunteers by some television channels,” said a young police officer guarding one of the entrances to the venue. “They are our officials and only dressed like this for official reasons. They have also been assigned duties to maintain discipline on the stage. They are unarmed but have undergone commando training.”
The crowd in and outside the rally venue could hardly be termed disciplined but hundreds of thousands of workers of the ruling party believe the ‘success of show of power’ will boost the party and pay it back in the years to come in the reorganisation of the party.
“If you ask me... I should not be happy with the party’s performance as the ruling party. Even a diehard worker like me who lost his loved one for the party has not seen any revolutionary change. But you see it’s a beginning of a new journey and I believe it will give hope to every worker who had faith in the Bhutto’s ideology,” said Farooq.
Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2014
