ISLAMABAD: With the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) contingents parked almost side-by-side on parallel roads in the capital, observers are beginning to draw parallels between the crowds that both parties have managed to pull.

Despite very little ideological overlap, both parties have demonstrated idiosyncratic similarities when it comes to the politics of sit-ins and demonstrations.

The most striking aspect of these two marches is the resilience demonstrated by party workers and activists, who have spent nearly three days, camped out on the roads of Islamabad, braving rain and shine and the occasional scuffle with law enforcers.

Women, children, men young and old; all have persevered in the face of the elements.

The PTI, supporters say, is a “liberal” party, striving for change in the political culture of country, while in the words of PAT workers, they are a group rooted in the religious rather than the political.

Women’s participation

Both parties also boast a large contingent of women among participants in their respective sit-ins.

This is a trend not seen among mainstream political parties, whose women usually travel and protest separately from the men.

In the case of both PTI and PAT, however, women of all ages have constantly been at the forefront.

In fact, several women Dawn spoke to at the sit-ins said they had come to the demonstration of their own accord, without any other male family members.

“We portray the picture of youth in country that is not only active and energetic but striving for a change too,” Asad Umar, the PTI MNA from Islamabad, told Dawn.

Music

Unlike most other political parties, both the protesting groups seem to be quite fond of using music at their public meetings.

While the PTI has their signature DJ Butt, who intersperses political speeches with brief interludes of song, the beat of the drum and the rousing rhythms of patriotic anthems set the tone at the PAT sit-in.

Whether they are shouting slogans or clapping their hands to the beat of the music, supporters of both parties are quite adept at keeping time with the “soundtrack of revolution”.

Discipline

Even though thousands of charged supporters descended upon the capital over the course of the past few days, no major disturbances have been reported and it does not appear that the presence of PAT or PTI workers has interfered too much with the daily lives of the rest of the city.

According to party office-bearers, no one has been plucking flowers, leaves or branches from trees in the densely vegetated greenbelts around Sector G-6 and along Kashmir Highway.

Similarly, workers from both parties have been quite well-behaved with shopkeepers in Aabpara Market.

Despite long queues at food vendors’ stalls and their own strength in numbers, PTI and PAT workers have so far conducted themselves admirably. There have been no reports of any vandalism, shoplifting or harassment, despite the overwhelming numbers of people that spent the night in the narrow alleys of Aabpara.

Most people do not even argue when being overcharged by shopkeepers looking to make a quick buck. While prices of a cup of tea or a plate of rice have doubled in the vicinity, there have been no grumblings among the patient crowds.

Differences

But not everything is the same between these two parties, and the contrast becomes clear as you move from one rally to the other.

PTI workers are far more disorganised than their PAT counterparts. Tahirul Qadri’s cadres are, in fact, quite well-equipped to deal with any situation.

A few volunteers that Dawn spoke to at Aabpara said they had been trained to deal with situations such as tear-gas shelling or baton charging.

A young woman wearing safety goggles said she was supposed to be deployed at the front of the march and had been trained to cope with tear gas. Others with first aid training would be at the rear, tending to the wounded.

In addition, the PAT contingent is looked after by four committees of volunteers: the security, rescue, discipline and mess committees.

One of the most noticeable differences was also the PAT workers’ willingness to queue, either for food or to avail toilet facilities. PTI workers, as is the norm in the country, were far more rowdy and ill-organised.

But the PTI, in comparison, demonstrates nowhere near the organisation on display at the Pakistan Awami Tehreek march. On Friday night, there were reports of incidents where PTI workers manhandled press personnel at the sit-in.

“Some workers did get annoyed by one-sided reporting by a certain media group, but we have asked everybody to refrain from interacting with the media,” Shireen Mazari, spokesperson for the PTI, told Dawn.

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2014