ISLAMABAD: Imran Khan’s decision to leave the Azadi marchers stranded early on Saturday morning definitely took its toll on the morale of his party workers.

When a Dawn reporter arrived at the venue of the PTI sit-in at 10am on Saturday, there were not many party workers present. Those at the scene put the number at just around 1,000, but there was no way to verify this claim.

Many people could still be seen sleeping in the green belts around Kashmir Highway, but most took refuge in the deserted lanes of Aabpara Market.

Most of the people at the venue in the morning were belong to lower-income groups. Most of them were Pashtuns, but a sizable contingent from central Punjab also spent the night there.

Sabir Ullah, a PTI supporter from Malakand, told Dawn that he spent a few hours in Aabpara Market but could not sleep at all.

“Those who could afford to went to Faizabad and other areas to find a place to sleep. Others went to live with their relatives,” he said.

Choudhry Mushtaq, a property dealer from Islamia Park Lahore, said that to escape the rain, he slept in the vehicle he had traveled in from Lahore.

Sabirullah seemed disappointed with the decision by top leaders to leave the venue.

“In this kind of situation, the leadership should be available to encourage the party workers. I can give benefit of doubt to Imran Khan because he travelled for 40 hours from Lahore but the leadership of the PTI’s KP chapter did not bother to stay with us,” he said.

Mr Sabir, who holds a diploma in electrical engineering, said KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, provincial minister Atif Khan and other leaders should have stayed at the sit-in. It is further annoying that Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Tahirul Qadri did not leave his workers alone.

“I tried to find out if the chief minister had gone to Peshawar to visit the families of the 15 people who died during the torrential rains but could not confirm it. In fact, PTI workers had started leaving the capital on Friday, after which, Imran Khan had to reach the venue ahead of the Azadi March from Lahore,” he said.

“There is no arrangement for the marchers. The party workers are standing in long queues outside toilets at Aabpara. My friend and I took Parhata and tea for Rs150. On the other hand, the van which brought us to Islamabad has returned, so we will have to purchase public transport tickets to go home,” he said.

Chaudhry Mushtaq, a property dealer by profession and a resident of Islamia Park in Lahore, said the party leadership should not leave the workers.

“In wars, generals just sit in trenches on the borders and have tea but it boosts the confidence of their soldiers. I am of the opinion that the PTI leadership is not used to enduring hardship,” he said.

“Unfortunately, the PML-N and PPP have failed to resolve the issues of Pakistan so now educated people are looking towards the PTI with the hope that it may change the fate of the country,” he said.

Fareed Khan, another PTI worker from Mardan, said he had come down with flu and had decided to go home.

Some PTI workers also felt that the PAT leadership had been smart about selecting the venue for the sit-in. They said there was no shelter on Kashmir Highway, where PTI had set the stage. PAT workers, who were staging the sit-in at Khayaban-i-Suharwardi took refuge in Aabpara market.

“PAT workers, especially women, took shelter under the shades and even in the mosques at Aabpara but we had no option but to sit under the trees during the heavy rain,” said Fazal Hussain from Peshawar.

He said he would remain in the city till the acceptance of the PTI demands. But he added that the organisers should have selected a better site for the sit-in.

Hassan Ali from Gujrat said he had come to take part in the sit-in to bring a change but the weather was not favourable and there was a dire need to make arrangements to protect the participants from the heavy rain.

He said on both sides of the Kashmir Highway, there were a lot of trees that could only provide us shade in case of a sunny day. He said most of the participants had to buy raincoats from the nearby Aabpara market.

“The PAT workers are lucky or their leadership had a wise decision in selecting the venue,” said Mushtaq Hussain, a resident of Tarnol.

He said the next two or three days would be tough for the participants but not for the leaders of the party.

When contacted, PTI leader Sadaqat Abbasi said the Islamabad administration had allowed the party to establish the stage of the sit-in at Zero Point but the party’s local leaders decided to set up the stage as near to the Constitution Avenue as possible.

He said people had arrived in the capital with an aim to bring a change in the country and get rid of corruption and corrupt politicians. He said the participants would stay in the city without any complaint till the acceptance of the PTI demands.

On the other hand, most of the participants of the Azadi march, who arrived in the federal capital on Friday night with their leader Imran Khan, spent their first day meeting their relatives in the twin cities or visiting the picnic spots till Saturday evening.

The leaders of the Azadi march left the venue after announcing the start of the sit-in and the participants had no other choice but kill the time by visiting different places.

Most of the people at the sit-in were from KP. At 2:45pm, the organisers of the sit-in invited the participants from KP to deliver speeches in Pashtoo to attract the people.

The gathering at Kashmir Highway was thin in the afternoon but it swelled in the evening when the marchers come back and the party workers and supporters from Rawalpindi and Islamabad joined them.

Meanwhile, the construction of toilets for the participants of the marches continued on Saturday.

Fazlur Rehman from a Lahore-based company said seven sets of toilets would be fixed at different places.

“In each set, there will be 14 toilets. PVC water tanks will also be fixed on the side or top of the toilets,” he said.

Chaudhry Ashraf Gujjar, who was the PML-N candidate for the NA-48 seat in Islamabad, visited the venue of the PTI sit-in and distributed boxes of breakfast among the participants.

Talking to Dawn, Mr Gujjar said considering the problem of the protesters, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had instructed him to arrange the breakfast for them.

“Bottles of mineral water were also distributed among the participants as the PTI did not make any arrangement for its workers,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2014