LAHORE: The opposition parties’ movement to “force the PML-N out of power – both in the federal and provincial governments” – kicks off in Lahore on Wednesday (today) on the call of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT).

Imran Khan’s PTI and the leaders of the PPP, the JI and the PML-Q reaffirmed their pledge to be part of the inaugural rally on The Mall.

Although the Lahore High Court is set to take up today a petition by traders demanding that the rally should not be allowed on The Mall because it was banned in 2011, the preparations for the protest were in full swing on Tuesday.

Even by Tuesday night, the district administration had not granted formal permission for the rally but it did not thwart the arrangements either. The PAT workers transported a container, hundreds of chairs, large screens for showing documentaries of the Model Town incident, and the sound system to the venue and police were in a way facilitating them by diverting traffic and keeping the venue clear.

The city traffic police had claimed that The Mall would be officially closed at 12am (Wednesday) but it remained closed for better part of Tuesday, creating hazards for the commuters. The government announced that the educational institutions – the Punjab University (old campus), the Government College University, the National College of Arts and seven schools – in and around the venue would remain closed on Wednesday.

The Zoo administration too announced that the facility would not open the whole day through.

Police drew up the security plan for the day. SP Security Ammara Athar said the venue would have three-tier security, with more than 6,500 policemen and 1,500 wardens being assigned duties. This would be in addition to three companies of the Rangers who would be manning ‘vulnerable points’ along the venue. An upward of 40 walk-through gates would be used and six entry points were finalised, one of these for women participants, she said.

The steering and action committees formed during the Multi-Party Conference also met to finalise the protest plan. After the meeting, PAT chief Dr Tahirul Qadri briefed the media on the plan. “There will be one container and one stage, where all the leaders including Imran Khan and Asif Ali Zardari will address the protesters from the same podium,” he said.

The protest, he announced, would be split into two sessions: one before Maghrib prayer and the second after it. The PAT says such an arrangement is meant to facilitate people during prayer timings though it was rumoured that it was a deliberate plan to arrange separate addresses of Imran Khan and Mr Zardari.

Speaking at a press conference at his party headquarters in Lahore, PTI spokesman Fawad Chaudhry also made it clear, “the PTI cannot share the stage with Asif Ali Zardari. That’s why it requested for separate sessions for Imran Khan and Mr Zardari and Dr Qadri obliged.”

According to the PAT sources, Dr Qadri spoke to Imran Khan in the morning and discussed post-Wednesday scenario with him. The PAT leader would be taking these points to Asif Ali Zardari who had invited him over to dinner, they said.

Dr Qadri also told the media that all the decisions had been taken with consensus. “All the parties have agreed on two points: one that Shahbaz Sharif being the prime accused in the Model Town case in the light of Justice Baqar Najafi report must go and second, the protest would go on till he is forced out of office. We are not asking for his resignation but will force him out of office.”

Meanwhile, the Central Shura of the Jamaat-i-Islami also met on Tuesday to reiterate support for the rally. Sirajul Haq told the media after the meeting that the JI stood with the PAT in its quest for justice for the 14 workers killed in Model Town and a JI delegation would join the protest on Wednesday.

It is learnt that a World Bank delegation postponed its visit to Lahore because of the protest. A team of the financial institution was to discuss a Rs65 billion credit line for the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) and the visit has now been rescheduled for Jan 19 (Friday).

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2018