SHAH NAWAZ MOHAL
With the end of PTI’s Yaum-e-Tashukar, the containers were lifted from all over the city, which reverted the lives of locals to normalcy in Islamabad.
As children and their parents head back to schools and offices, many among them question the strategy and tactics employed by both government and opposition parties that brought the Capital to a halt for 5 days.
‘I don’t understand that why we have to pay the price for the politics that benefit only few. The memories of 2014 dharna were still afresh when Khan gave call for a lockdown. I request both to the government and opposition to please play their petty politics somewhere else. Allow the citizens to carry on their daily lives peacefully,’ said Dr Anum, resident of Chak Shahzad.
On the other hand, after attending the spectacle of November, 2 the supporters of PTI left Yaum-e-Tashakur site covered in tons of trash. City Administration deployed a team of 50 janitors from Metropolitan Corporation who were given the task to clean the area. However, despite working all day long, the sanitation team couldn’t clear the Parade Ground of flags, wrappers and tons of garbage spread over a kilometer long stretch.
‘We braved shelling, baton charging and spent 4 nights under the sky because our leader Imran Khan promised to rid us of this corrupt government. We were mentally and physically prepared to lockdown Islamabad, but when the moment came, Imran Khan changed his mind and trusted the courts. We all know that courts of Pakistan don’t give justice, then how can Khan leave the corrupt to be judged by them?,’ asked Muhammad Abbas, a resident of Sahiwal on his way back from Parade Ground.
Many die hard supporters of PTI felt the blues when on November 1, Imran Khan decided to convert his lockdown into thanksgiving day, a decision that has been mocked by many as latest U-turn in a long history of similar manoeuvres.
The government didn’t come across as a winner either. Deployment of FC and police on entry and exit points hindered many residents from travelling to Punjab, KPK and other provinces. People had to cancel their business and personal trips due to containers and barriers around Islamabad.
‘A close relative of mine died on October 31. We had to attend his funeral but couldn’t attend in time due to blockades placed by government to keep Parvaiz Khattak and PTI supporters away from the Capital. ‘I ask the government why they had to block entire roads and highways just to keep few thousand people away. I lost a dear relative and despite having the means to see him for the last time, I couldn’t because my government was afraid and had severed off one province from the other’, said Waleed Khan, a lawyer from Islamabad.
With no clear winners and losers, the showdown during the past week laid bare the vulnerable status of Islamabad. On one hand if the PTI has received a dent in its reputation, many citizens ask government that why were they held hostage to deter a few.
