PESHAWAR: The workers and supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf from major cities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa left on Sunday to join the party’s Amar Bil Maroof rally in Islamabad, with Defence Minister Pervez Khattak and provincial ministers leading rallies from their respective constituencies.

Mr Khattak led the procession from his hometown Nowshera. From Peshawar, it was the provincial health minister, Taimur Saleem Jhagra, who led the rally. Minister for Information Technology Atif Khan led party supporters from Mardan whereas Education Minister Shahram Khan Taraki headed out from Swabi.

Motorway police seem helpless to manage traffic

Other rallies from different districts including Hazara, Malakand, Peshawar and southern districts left via Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway and Grand Trunk Road, gathering at Hakla interchange, from where Parvez Khattak led the march into Islamabad.

Even though it was planned that Chief Minister Mahmood Khan would lead a major rally from the province, he was not seen or heard from till the filing of this report.

An official told Dawn on condition of anonymity that the chief minister was not seen leading any of the rallies from the province till the Hazara Expressway intersection on the motorway between Peshawar and Islamabad.

“Initially, it was planned that the chief minister would join the procession from Malakand division at Karnal Sher Khan interchange in Swabi and lead it onwards from there but he was not seen there,” he said.

Witnesses reported excitement among the PTI supporters, saying there were songs and dances, with cavalcades comprising hundreds of vehicles full of party followers, chanting slogans and cheers. There was a large number of women among them, with protesters coming from as far as the remote northern district of Chitral.

Travellers on motorway, however, said that the PTI rallies violated all traffic rules, causing blockades at some places, vehicles and motorcycles — not allowed on motorway — crossing road dividers to force traffic flow only in the direction of Islamabad. Chaotic scenes and traffic jams were seen, amidst use of pressure horns and supporters shouting from bus tops.

The motorway police, they said, were completely helpless against the press and flow of such a huge crowd. At some places, PTI supporters had stopped buses on roadside, calling on people to join them for free ride to the capital.

Published in Dawn, March 28th, 2022