Daily Times

LAHORE: At around 2:30pm in the afternoon, the atmosphere at Circular Road outside the Lohari Gate seemed festive until you spoke to a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supporter.

The exchange highlighted that behind the façade of festivity was anger. Anger that came from being denied what was rightfully theirs.

“We have been denied our right to elect and reject our leaders. Why is it that no elected prime minister has ever completed their term in Pakistan,” said a supporter from NA-125. As conversation continued, it soon led to the phrase made popular by PML-N quaid Nawaz Sharif: khalai makhlooq. No one in the group was willing to name the names, but their smirks made it obvious that they knew very well what they were referring to.

In the background, ‘vote ko izzat do’ could be heard buzzing from several music systems arranged by convoys arriving with leaders from different areas of the city.

By 3:45pm, the crowd had swelled in the area in front of Lohari Gate, the rallying point, but it still got leaner as one moved away, either towards the Darbar or the Shahalam Market Chowk. There was no sign of any movement yet.

A group of women workers accompanying PML-N candidate for NA-87, Saira Afzal Tarar, pulled no punches when they highlighted what they felt was a clear bias against the Sharif family among segments of the mainstream media.

“It’s a shame that mainstream media has been vilifying our leaders, muting their speeches and denying coverage to our campaigns. This is clear discrimination. Most of us gathered here are office bearers and we’re here to take a stand for civilian supremacy and our leaders, Nawaz and Maryam,” said Shehnaz Mughal, a member of the party’s women’s wing.

Salma Butt, a candidate for PP-167, added, “Obviously the women of the Noon League will come out in droves for their leader, Maryam Nawaz.”

The participants made it a point to deny the impression that they joined the rally against their will. They said they were expecting barricades and jamming of wireless services on Friday so they made arrangements to arrive in the Walled City area on Thursday.

Tariq Abbas of the PML-N Multan chapter said he traveled in a group overnight to reach Lahore to welcome ‘our leader and take a stand for what’s right’.

“No one asked me to reach here. It was solely my own decision to come to welcome my leader,” said Haji Muhammad Hanif, who deals in the fish business at a local market just adjacent to the Lohari gate.

“I am a registered voter in NA-125 from where Nawaz Sharif repeatedly got elected during his political career and he has changed the whole infrastructure of this city by initiating several development projects, and now it is my obligation to pay him back by giving him a warm welcome.”

Haider Zia, who has come from Khawaja Asif’s constituency in Sialkot, said that the rally was a referendum in support of Nawaz Sharif. “We reached Lahore by crossing several hindrances that came in our way on GT Road, but our leader wasn’t allowed to leave the city by Rangers,” he said.

Murtaza Abbasi, a participant from Murree former PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s constituency in Murree, also reached Lahore a day earlier to avoid inconvenience, since all entrances to the city remained blocked all day on Friday.

The crowd included supporters from as far away as Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Kashmir, Ghotki and Karachi, not all of whom had come with local party chapters.

Ayaz Ahmed, a participant from Mirpur Khas, said he had come with a group of friends just to take a stand for civilian supremacy. “I am not a Noon supporter and I’ve never voted for them but this is a stand we have to take. Vote ko izzat dou,” he said.

The rally finally started around 4pm as the convoy of PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif joined the crowd in front of Lohari Gate.

While those successful in reaching the rallying point rejoiced in their moment of glory, many remained stuck at barriers set up at major entrances on GT Road and the Lahore-Islamabad motorway.

Several scuffles were also reported between police officials and PML-N workers from Babu Sabu, Muridkay, Narowal, Sialkot, Ferozwala, Nankana Sahib and Faisalabad.

Published in Daily Times, July 14^th 2018.