LARKANA: The deputy commissioner and the SSP of Larkana along with leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) visited the village of Ali Abad, some 11 kilometres off here, on Tuesday night and discussed security measures for the PTI’s public meeting scheduled for Nov 21. They assessed the arrangements while labourers were busy constructing a stage.

The pindal was spread over 12 acres where 50,000 chairs would be placed, said Shafqat Hussain Unar, organiser of the event. The area being levelled had the capacity of accommodating more than 200,000 people, sources said. A big area was kept for parking, the PTI leaders said.

Deputy Commissioner Ganhwar Leghari told Dawn at the meeting venue that police and Rangers would be deployed for it.

PTI volunteers would be entrusted the security of the main stage where only selected leaders of the PTI would be allowed, the party sources said. Two exclusive galleries for women and the press would be prepared on the day.

Worker caravans from different parts of the country would start arriving in from Nov 20 to attend the public meeting.

Sindh PTI chief Nadir Akmal Leghari told reporters that Imran Khan had come out with new ideas and a vision that attracted people.

Translating people’s feelings, he said ‘enough is enough’. The time had come for a ‘change’, he said, adding that the PPP was afraid of the PTI’s popularity because youths were joining the PTI in Sindh.

He said in the past anti-PPP political parties had to gather to face the PPP. But now it was the PTI which alone challenged the PPP, he said.

The PTI’s proposed public meeting annoyed the PPP and now its leaders were offering 10-year-old condolences with people, Mr Leghari said. The PPP had begun hoisting new party flags and hanging street banners, he said. The people of Sindh had awakened now and they could easily differentiate between their foes and friends, he said.

It was the inefficiency and ineptness of the Sindh government that the incidences of hepatitis B and C were the highest in Asia, he said.

He said PTI workers would gather in Islamabad on Nov 30 for what he called the ‘decisive’ phase of the struggle.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had recognised people as the fountain of power and gifted them with political awareness while Imran Khan was striving for political rights of the people, Mr Leghari said.

Published in Dawn, November 19th, 2014