LAHORE: The Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) women’s protest to get justice for martyrs of Model Town incident in Lahore on Wednesday, soon turned into electioneering for its candidate Advocate Ishtiaq Chaudhry.
The banners were seen inside the rally venue at the gate of Lahore Museum and at the entrance of the venue. There were also banners on fences of Town Hall, DC Road, Nasir Bagh and Mall Road. The banners read: “Kon Badlay ga nizam…Tahir ul Qadri aur awam” (Who will change the system…Tahir ul-Qadir and the people).
The Istanbul Chowk, DC Road, Mall Road and Town Hall where PAT arranged sit-in, falls in the NA-120 constituency where by-elections are due to be held on September 17.
According to the PAT spokesman, all the opposition parties have been invited to participate in the sit-in against the June 17, 2014, carnage in which 14 people were killed in Model town.
Talking to Pakistan Today, Fazal Begum, widower of Zahoor, who was killed in Model Town two year ago, said she has come to get justice for her martyred husband. “We want a revolution. We want an end to the repressive system in which we are unable to get justice. We will support PAT candidate so that we can get justice,” said Fazal Begum, who was participating in the protest rally along with her three children and other family members. She revealed that she was getting Rs 12,000 from Pakistan Awami Tehreek chief Tahir Ul-Qadri to meet her routine expenditure, adding that Qadri has also given her a one-room house, along with kitchen and bath. She said she was conveyed by Qadir whether she was ready to get justice by staging a sit-in on The Mall Road and she ‘okayed’ his call.
Farhat Dilbar, along with her family, came from Faisalabad to participate in the rally. She said she had come to show solidarity with families of Model Town martyrs and wanted to change the system. “We have come to change the system. We will ask our friends living in NA-120 to vote for the PAT candidate.”
Farida Ali Akbar, another participant of the rally, also made ‘similar’ comments.
In an interview with Pakistan Today, Advocate Ishtiaq Ch said he said he would not beg for votes in the rally. “The women’s only rally is purely for victims of Model Town and to make the Justice Baqir Najfi report public. It is not appropriate to ask people for a vote there”.
Meanwhile, all government departments remained open near the area where PAT women are staging a sit-in. However, there were few visitors in Lahore Museum and Punjab Public Library. The main gates of Punjab University Old campus, NCAA and museum were closed.
Students faced difficulty in getting admission forms from Old Campus of Punjab University. No classes were held at the old campus. The shuttle service between old and new campuses of Punjab University also remained suspended. According to the sources in the PAT, the women only sit-in is likely to continue overnight and a decision to continue or end it will be made on the second day of the rally.
Roads were closed from Lahore Museum to Istanbul Chowk for vehicular traffic. A heavy contingent of police has been deployed for the security of the participants.
Women and children were holding banners and placards which asked the Lahore High Court Chief Justice to set up a bench to review the Justice Baqar Najfi report on the Model Town incident. The banners also referred to martyrs of Karbala and asked the CJ to take notice for their sake. Children of those killed in the Model town were also carrying banners in English which read: “State is killing our mothers. Why is the state killing our mothers? Can the judiciary stop them? Why state terrorism?”
Leaders of different parties including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), PML-Q, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Sunni Ittehad Council and Majlis Wahdat-ul-Muslimeen have assured the PAT of their participation in the sit-in rally.
The song played in Urdu and Pashto during the rally asked Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif to resign.
