RAWALPINDI, March 27: Security and other measures taken by the city administration and the ruling party to make President Pervez Musharraf’s public meeting at Liaquat Bagh on Tuesday a “big success” brought “big trouble” to the citizens.

Roads leading to the venue were closed, forcing long detours on travelling public and halting business activity in the busy and densely populated city centre.

Students of government schools enjoyed a forced holiday and those of private schools, like office workers, had no public transport available to reach their institutions and working places.

Most of the buses and vans had been commandeered by police to bring people from far and wide to the political show put up by the ruling Muslim League for the president.

Only the vehicles carrying the ruling party officials and their camp followers were allowed on the roads leading to the rally venue. All others had to fend for themselves.

A funny situation arose when commandeered vehicles bringing people from Gujar Khan tried to pass through the toll plaza on GT Road without paying the toll and the soldiers on duty won’t allow them that freedom, reports our Gujar Khan correspondent. Eventually, a party official paid the toll and the caravan moved on.

Liaquat Bagh itself was heavily guarded.

Twenty-two security cameras, installed by a private company at the venue, kept a watch on the people attending the public meeting which was organised to celebrate the ground-breaking of Leh Expressway project by the president, according to the Online news agency.

The federal capital remained partially cut-off throughout the day as all major link roads were blocked by law enforcement agencies.

Commuters travelling between the twin cities via Murree Road encountered the worst-ever situation as public transport had no access beyond Siddiqui Chowk and the Sixth Road in the Satellite Town as the portion of Murree Road between Chandni Chowk to Marrir Hassan Chowk was totally cordoned off by police and law enforcement agencies.

Rawal Chowk presented a deserted look as traffic coming from Chaklala and other areas were completely blocked since morning. However, the traffic was restored in the evening after the departure of the VVIPs. While the government circles claimed the public meeting as the biggest success, the business community faced huge financial loss.

It has been seen that the business community voluntary observe shutter down when their interests clash with government policies or the opposition calls for a wheel-jam strike, but the people of Rawalpindi saw on Tuesday a forced shutter down.

PML-N: Information secretary of the Pakistan Muslim League-N Ahsan Iqbal said that Rawalpindi’s “rent-a-rally” cost Rs1 million per minute to the state exchequer according to international media yet it failed to draw citizens.

In a statement issued from London on Tuesday, the PML-N information secretary said the government declared local holiday and all government school-teachers and employees were forced to attend Gen Musharraf’s rally.

PPP: Peoples Party Parliamentarians general-secretary Raja Pervez Ashraf declared the rally “a total flop and drama 2007”, and lauded the masses of Rawalpindi for refusing to participate in it, in the face of every possible coercion and manipulation.