ISLAMABAD, May 12: All roads leading to the Constitution Avenue remained open to all on Saturday. The reason — the president was to address thousands of his ‘supporters’ for the first time in the federal capital.
The organiser of this ‘mammoth’ rally was none other than the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML). It wanted to show the opposition parties what ‘real people power’ was. And to an extent it did succeed as it managed to bring people from various cities of the country to the Constitution Avenue. At one point of time, there were more rural folks in Islamabad than the urbanites.
The Dhoti-clad villagers were brought to Islamabad after reportedly being paid Rs100-Rs300 per person, along with extra perks of a meal, cap and a picture of the president, a number of participants told Dawn, adding that some were even brought to the capital against their will.
However, this rally did bring some hardships for the residents of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
The main roads leading to Constitution Avenue were jammed with vehicles, forcing the local residents to remain indoors and watch the latest developments taking place in the country on television.
Islamabad Highway, Suhrwardy Road, Kashmir Highway and Murree Road remained blocked as thousands of people were seen walking on the roads. Likewise the markets of the capital, including Aabpara and Melody, were jampacked with visitors and food outlets there did a roaring business. The auto-teller machines (ATM) of banks, located at the main markets, also remained out of order throughout the day.
Pickpockets had a field day, with a number of shopkeepers complaining of losing their valuables placed outside their shops.
Likewise, the greenbelts along Suhrwardy Road and Blue Area were ruined as hundreds of vehicles were parked there.
A number of residents of the capital termed the situation ‘undemocratic’. They were of the view that the government had brought thousands of people from various parts of the country to make its rally a success while it stopped opposition parties, civil society and non-government organisations from doing the same.
It seemed as if people had come to attend a gala rather than participate in a rally that was to be addressed by the president, prime minister, Punjab chief minister and other government officials.
Some of the participants were even seen holding posters of the president and Punjab chief minister upside down.
A participant of the rally, who was carrying a portrait of the president, was not even aware of the identity of the man whose picture he was carrying. “I am not aware of who he is. I found it lying on the road and picked it up,” the man, who had come from a village, said.
Meanwhile, Rawalpindi-Islamabad Union of Journalists brought out a rally to lodge a protest against the attack on Aaj TV office in Karachi.
However, the protesters, who were carrying banners, were prevented from approaching the stage set up for the president, prime minister and other VVIPs.