Khursheed Shah addresses the rally.— DawnNews
"We are all together... the people of Pakistan are one," he said, adding that all leaders had gathered at the protest for the sake of democracy.
"We are asking for justice for the blood of the martyrs," he said, in a reference to those killed in the 2014 Model Town incident.
"Today there is a bouquet of all people and we are one and we will move forward together."
The Lahore High Court (LHC) had earlier in the day allowed PAT to go ahead with its sit-in, but with certain conditions — including ending the sit-in by midnight.
The judgement was announced on a petition filed against the protest.
"Media should not cover the dharna after 12am," the court said in the verdict, which had been reserved earlier in the day. "Lahore police should provide full security to the sit-in but the provincial government can take action if the sit-in gets violent."
Justice Aminuddin Khan, reading the verdict, had stressed that the sit-in should remain peaceful, and added: "No one should be allowed to take the law into their own hands".
Initial uncertainty
The district administration had dithered in granting formal permission for the rally till Tuesday night, but did not thwart the arrangements either. Meanwhile, the PAT workers transported a container, hundreds of chairs, large screens to show documentaries of the Model Town incident, and a sound system to the venue. Police, in a way, facilitated the would-be protesters 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 the better part of Tuesday as well, creating hurdles for commuters. The government had further announced that 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 Lahore Zoo administration, too, announced that the facility would not open the whole day through.
Police had drawn up a security plan for the day in advance. 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 Punjab 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 had 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 said, 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 the addresses of Imran Khan and 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.”
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 the 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.”