Kudos to Kaptaan

Yeh waqt nahi hai sonay ka, yeh waqt hai aagay barhnay ka!” The Bagh-e-Jinnah in Karachi reverberated with this song among several others that spread tremors of excitement through the crowd, which included many youngsters waving Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) flags and chanting slogans in favour of the political party during the National Unity Convention convened by PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Sunday. Thousands, including women and children, from all ethnic groups and walks of life gathered at the Bagh-e-Jinnah to see Khan in the flesh. As the sun rose on Sunday, people from every part of the metropolitan left their houses for the Bagh-e-Jinnah to attend the PTI’s convention.
By sundown, the Bagh was jam-packed, with the parking space occupied as well, and the gates of the venue had to be closed due to the unexpected number of turnout. Several latecomers who could not find space inside the Bagh stayed in their vehicles and listened to the PTI chairman talk over loudspeakers. Khan’s party had put up big screens around the venue to facilitate those citizens who could not watch the chairman over the crowd. Many people who could not find any standing space climbed the trees at the venue to get a better look at the PTI chairman.
The crowded parking area forced the participants of the convention to park their vehicles on the MA Jinnah Road and elsewhere, resulting in traffic jams. The youth, many of them wearing shirts printed with Khan’s pictures, chanted slogans in favour of his party, and expressed their excitement and support by dancing on and singing to national songs blasting from the speakers. The law enforcers were deployed outside the Bagh, whereas several traffic police personnel were trying to ensure smooth traffic flow, but it turned out to be an impossible task due to the unexpected number of turnout.
Inside the Bagh, the Insaf Students Federation took care of the security arrangements, with scanners and walkthrough gates installed at all entry points.
The central leadership of the PTI was seated in the upper portion of the stage, whereas the leadership of Sindh took up the lower portion. The venue could seat 60,000 people, but the chairs had to be removed later because an unexpected number of citizens had turned up at the Bagh. The PTI spent Rs 450 million on the event that was organised by a private firm.

‘I wouldn’t have missed it for the world’

In the 80s, girls used to put up posters of cricketer Imran Khan on the walls of their rooms and longed to see him in person. For many of them, their wish came true on Sunday after many years when they reached Bagh-e-Jinnah with their children. However, they were now seeing Khan in the role of a politician. Wearing shirts with a picture of Imran Khan and holding Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) flags, they were finally turning their dream into reality. Many women were seen telling their children about Khan. A woman trying to get near the stage where PTI chairman was sitting told this Pakistan Today that she is a fan of Khan even since he led Pakistan to a cricket world cup victory. “I wished to see him live but never got the chance. After years, I finally got the opportunity to see him and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world,” she said.
When asked whether she likes Khan as cricketer or as a politician, she replied that he is acceptable in any role. “I know he won’t disappoint us in any role. He didn’t disappoint us a cricketer and he won’t as a politician either,” she added. Another woman, who was standing in the family enclosure, told Pakistan Today that she hates politics and never participates in political gatherings, but she could not miss the chance to see Khan. “I will vote in the next elections for the first time in my life and it will be for the PTI. Imran really needs votes to become the prime minister and I don’t want to see him lose,” she added.