RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Saturday brought out a rally from Faizabad to Liaquat Bagh to mobilise workers for the party’s upcoming long march to Islamabad.

The rally, comprising cars, was led by PTI chief organiser Saifullah Niazi, former aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan and local members of the parliament.

The rally put vehicular traffic out of gear on Murree Road, creating problems for motorists in the hot weather.

“A few vehicles disturbed the traffic coming from Islamabad to Faizabad,” said Mohammad Anwar, a motorist at Shamsabad.

During the rally, long queues of vehicles could be witnessed on Murree Road, Liaquat Bagh and Committee Chowk.

“The organisers of the rally had not informed the district administration about the rally a day before so that the city traffic police could arrange a diversion plan for the traffic,” said a traffic warden regulating traffic in front of Benazir Bhutto Hospital.

He said the police deployed extra force to clear route for ambulances. He said patients faced problems in reaching the hospital on Murree Road.

A senior PTI leader while talking to Dawn said the basic aim of the rally was to mobilise the workers for the expected long march to Islamabad as the party had decided against holding any public meeting in the garrison city.

He said earlier the public meeting was scheduled to be held in Rawalpindi on May 9 but later the plan was changed.

He said rallies led by lawmakers from Rawalpindi district kept joining the main rally.

Speaking on the occasion, PTI leaders said people had not accepted the ‘imported’ government and would respond positively on the call of Imran Khan for the long march to Islamabad.

They said the PTI government was removed to please the US but the people had not accepted the regime change. They said the present government had increased prices of edibles and electricity tariffs and would further increase them in coming days.

They said the PTI workers and supporters would remain peaceful in the long march to Islamabad and would stage a sit-in there for acceptance of their demands.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2022