The Pakistan Railways has dismissed an application submitted by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for provision of a special train to transport its supporters from Karachi to Rawalpindi on August 12 for the “million-man Azadi March” scheduled on August 14.
The Pakistan Railways administration rejected the plea stating that due to the large influx of passengers travelling after summer vacations, it would be hard to arrange separate 14 compartments to accommodate the PTI workers.
Reacting to the Railways’ refusal, PTI Member of the Sindh Provincial Assembly Khurram Sher Zaman said that if arrangement of the special train was not made for PTI supporters then no one else would be allowed to travel by train.
The Karachi chapter of the PTI had requested PR to arrange for a special train and their application was then forwarded to the Railway Headquarters.
The PR Headquarters inquired the feasibility from its police, operations and commercial subdivisions which expressed inability due to the issue’s political orientation, adding that the special train could only be arranged if the Sindh and Punjab government agreed to provide surplus security.