ISLAMABAD: A large number of supporters of Tehrik-i-Insaf took part in a sit-in on Saturday evening at the Parade Ground facing the Presidency and the Parliament house.
The people gathered at the ground under the slogan of “Hakoomat Hatao Mulk Bachao” (dismiss the government and save the country).
Men, women, children and the elderly gathered just before iftar where they broke their fasts with their party leader Imran Khan who sat in the crowd with the young and old surrounding him. Maghrib prayers followed later.
The stage was set high on containers arranged in the middle of the road in front of the permanent roadblock set up by the authorities during Gen Pervez Musharraf's regime blocking the access to the Presidency.
Television crews captured the atmosphere from an elevated position as activists raised anti-government slogans and swayed the party's red and green flag for cameras.
“Main to dekhoon ga”—the famous song by popular band Strings played from loudspeakers that further raised spirits in the crowds who cheered at every stanza in the lyrics.
Supporters who had come from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and central Punjab wearing T-shirts that read “Pakistan's Cornered Tigers” and “United We Stand” chanted slogans “Imran teray jan nisar beshumar”.
No distance was far enough for a group of youngsters, students, professionals and entrepreneurs who had come all the way from Sialkot.
“We have gathered here for a cause that is bigger than any distance. We have seen a nationalist spirit in Imran Khan that is rare in many so-called leaders of Pakistan,” said Abdul Basit, a lecturer in a private university in Sialkot.
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