ISLAMABAD: Protesters at the Azadi March started purchasing warm clothes from nearby secondhand stalls in Karachi Company after the temperature in the federal capital dropped to 14°C on Sunday.

The Met Office has also predicted rain because of a westerly wave likely to approach the country’s western parts tomorrow (Tuesday).

“The first winter rain in Potohar region, including Rawalpindi and Islamabad, will start from Tuesday night,” a Met official said.

Although participants from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan came prepared for the weather, residents of Sindh and inner Punjab headed to G-9 Markaz, commonly known as Karachi Company, for shopping. The Markaz is near the protest site at Peshawar Mor as well as Rawalpindi’s Pirwadhai area.

Met Office predicts rainfall in twin cities tomorrow

Most protesters went to Karachi Company on the advice of locals.

“We did not expect such chill in the area,” said Babar Khan. “Hand-me-downs are affordable, which is why I came here,” said Kamalia resident Mohammad Abbas.

The residents of the capital told us to buy warm clothes from Karachi Company; they were supportive and showed us these stalls,” he said.

“I went to the main market but the prices in Islamabad are very high, so I decided to get some secondhand items,” said Karachi resident Yasir Khan, who was with his local friends.

Sunday was not a busy day overall for the participants with only a few speeches in the morning. Most people kept themselves busy with games, and the organisers also asked participants to clean up the area in front of their camps.

Participants were seen playing cricket and football until the afternoon when leaders of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and other parties arrived on stage and gathered the scattered crowd, fearing a crackdown by police.

“We visited many places in the capital but we mostly went to areas close by and returned before the speeches started,” Sohail Ahmed from Lahore said.

“The first few days we stayed on the ground but we wanted to kill time and used Kashmir Highway to play cricket in the morning,” he added.

Mohammad Ajmal told Dawn that the participants had time to spare in the mornings and it was really difficult to spend time sitting at the protest venue without doing any work.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2019