LAHORE: At the corner of bustling Mozang Road in UC 68, dominated largely by the PML-N and PTI camps, was a diminutive tent sent up in the colours of green and white and adorned with banners carrying pictures of Mumtaz Qadri and Khadim Hussain Rizvi of the Labaik Ya Rasool (LYR) party.

Muhammad Owais introduces himself as a party worker, explaining that the LYR had gotten registered only two-and-a-half months ago with the ECP, so it did not have proper units at the local level. “The media gave us no coverage whatsoever,” he complains. “We have only just begun our movement and the people of NA-120 love Khadim Hussain Rizvi but the media, choosing to cover only PTI and PML-N, acts like we are invisible.”

Muhammad Maqsood Nawaz, the Sheikhupura emir of LYR, chimes in adding that his political party believes in non-violence.

The men and women of LYR had campaigned together for votes even though the party does not officially have any women members, says Mr Nawaz.

A group of young men approaches the camp and decides that they need to shake things up a bit. Trying to match the cacophony of the PML-N and PTI camps, they start shouting: “Naar-i-Takbeer! Allah Hu Akbar!”

Mr Nawaz adds that many voters who had visited their camp were not registered as their votes had been transferred out of NA-120. “This clearly is pre-poll rigging."

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2017

Opinion

Editorial

Anti-women state
Updated 25 Nov, 2024

Anti-women state

GLOBALLY, women are tormented by the worst tools of exploitation: rape, sexual abuse, GBV, IPV, and more are among...
IT sector concerns
25 Nov, 2024

IT sector concerns

PRIME Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s ambitious plan to increase Pakistan’s IT exports from $3.2bn to $25bn in the ...
Israel’s war crimes
25 Nov, 2024

Israel’s war crimes

WHILE some powerful states are shielding Israel from censure, the court of global opinion is quite clear: there is...
Short-changed?
Updated 24 Nov, 2024

Short-changed?

As nations continue to argue, the international community must recognise that climate finance is not merely about numbers.
Overblown ‘threat’
24 Nov, 2024

Overblown ‘threat’

ON the eve of the PTI’s ‘do or die’ protest in the federal capital, there seemed to be little evidence of the...
Exclusive politics
24 Nov, 2024

Exclusive politics

THERE has been a gradual erasure of the voices of most marginalised groups from Pakistan’s mainstream political...