Let’s see if ‘awam’ will come out to support Awami Tehreek

*PAT all set to show street power in 66 different cities of Punjab

Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) seems to be all set for a massive show of strength on Sunday despite the government’s determination to give tough time to the Tehreek’s supporters in the name of security measures.

The Mall is the venue where the entire political furor will be let loose and political muscle would be displayed. The PAT is organising rallies on the same day in 66 cities of Punjab but Lahore has an added importance when the aim is to send right kind of message to the quarters concerned.

The PAT will start its rally in Lahore from Nasir Bagh at 4 pm and end up at the Punjab Assembly. Here the participants would be addressed by the leaders of the PAT and other parties supporting their cause. At the Mall huge screen have been installed and likewise in all other protest venues to allow Dr Tahirul Qadri to connect with his followers. He will address live through a video linkage simultaneously to all the centres.

The political analysts watching these developments closely say the mindset behind these protests both in Punjab and Islamabad by the PAT is nothing but show muscle power. The aim is to display the strength of the PAT in the Punjab to the present ruling party with the message that this strength could be augmented if march to Islamabad is required.

Sources are not sure if these protests will linger on. However, it is widely believed in political circles that they will not last any longer and are meant mainly to exert pressure on the government to behave by the forces that be.

Meanwhile, the government seems a bit panicky in the face of rallies and dharnas and their anti-government character and announced strict security measures across the province. Surely, the message that is likely to come out of these protests will be against the government and hence embarrassment on its part. Again, maintaining security around the protest centres lies with the government especially in days when law and order situation is quite sensitive in the country.

Law Minister Rana Sanaullah has announced besides other measures that no participants would be allowed to enter the venue without body search. Already the both PAT and PTI say that there party workers are being harassed by the law enforcing agencies on the instructions of the government.

But still it will be difficult for the government to stop the followers of a religious party to stop from showing up at the protests given their commitment. Nor the security agencies have much knowledge about the movers and shakers or the ordinary supporters of the religious parties. Hence, chances of putting together a big show are very much there.

Meanwhile PAT Secretary information Qazi Faiz has warned that if any untoward incident takes place near the protest, the government both in the province and centre will be responsible for it. He said that the administration at various places had been intimidating the transporters to stay away from the rally. He said that while the government has warned against any terrorist activity in the rally in fact these terrorists and leaders of banned outfits are sitting in the lap of the government. The government is the popular face of these banned outfits which made possible the victory of the PML-N in the elections.