DR Tahirul Qadri’s march from Lahore to Islamabad has been thoughtlessly compared with the long march undertaken by Mao Zedong and his companions. For the information of the media, I would like to mention some facts about Mao’s long march.

Mao Zedong and his 100,000 companions undertook a long march from South-East to North-West China during 1934-35, covering a distance of 6,000 miles.

He and his companions left Jiangxi in October 1934. At the end of the journey about a year later, only 8,000 of the people were able to reach Shanxi. So there is just no comparison between Mao’s long march and the one undertook by Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri.

The latter’s march covered only 356 km, on a level road, with friendly people throughout his journey.

Mao Zedong and his companions covered extremely hostile terrain, harsh weather, and acute shortage of food and opposition forces, with the result that only 8,000 out of the 100,000 people could survive at the end of the journey.

ABID MAHMUD ANSARI Islamabad