Witness to the Procession
Pakistan nationalism got a fresh breather yesterday when the Lawyers Long March at the gates of the President house was joined by people from all walks of life. Although it was dubbed as the Lawyers struggle for the restoration of the deposed judges, what was witnessed instead was to be a start for the change of the old system under which the people of Pakistan have been ruled ever since its independence.
Government figures showed that the gathering was not more than 30,000 while other organizations put the figure somewhere between 2,00,000 to 5,00,000. I being the witness to the procession can safely say that it was anything between 3,50,000 to 4,00,000 when at its peak. The figures can be controversial but what is unanimous is the fact that the majority of the participants came to the city without any “fund” and “luring” from any political party or utilizing the Lawyers march facilities. They came on their own and that too from far off places of Pakistan. I even saw people come to the capital from as far as Waziristan.
The city was already put on high alert and the security personnel were specially trained to be polite and “sympathetic” to the people coming for the march. This was something not imaginable but fortunately it’s true. Apart from the supply of electricity to the venue, the facilities provided by the government with regards to security and water were worth applauding although they had misjudged the number of people that would participate. People started reaching the place as early as 7 am while the first batch of lawyers to reach the place was somewhere around 12 pm. The venue was packed with people of all ages from as young as a 7 year old who came up on stage to give some wise suggestions to the president (in Punjabi: Sadar te hun to rehna nai, kaar de bartan toe – go Musharaf go) to a 90+ year old lady Aziz Begum who had come all the way from Wazirabad to lodge her protest. What was pleasing to note was the fact that it was not only a male dominated show but female presence was equally prominent and noisy. Everyone, whether they were the lawyers, civil society members, retired army and bureaucracy members, professionals, human rights activists, businessmen, students or any other profession had only one slogan – Go Musharaf Go! Some of the slogans are not decent enough to be listed here but the city atmosphere was echoed with slogans of “Go Musharaf Go” and “Hang Musharaf”. The wit of President was witnessed when the two flags were raised on the President house to let the people know that he was still inside and still stubborn.
The climax of the procession came when it was announced that the students of Lal Masjid had joined them. (Yes, they were the lucky ones to escape the massacre of Musharaf) The thundering claps by the people to welcome them at one time was enough to raise down the president building itself. The frustration and hate of the people towards Musharaf was clearly visible at that point and I am sure, had any leader ordered the people to march towards the President house no one would have stayed behind.
Aitizaz’s decision not to stage the sit in on the venue brought frustration on the people’s face and this was shown while he was giving his speech and the people started to shout anti Aitizaz slogans of “Abi nahi to kabi nahi” (Now or never). Aitizaz’s view that they did not have the funds to fulfill the demands for the sit in are baseless as the people who had come to protest had come without any funds from him and they would have stayed there on their own. I am pretty sure that the next day would have seen more people coming to join in against the theory of Aitizaz that the numbers would have decreased. Now, if the movement gives another call to the people and if they would respond equally is a million dollar question.
Although the event ended in an unplanned manner, what came out of this was an eye raiser for the establishment and a food for thought to the newly formed government that the people have become more practical and that this is just the beginning of what can become a people’s movement to change the system.
