Islamabad - Cont.rary to the speculations that Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) will send shiver in power corridors through its show of power in Islamabad, participants of Sunday’s rally returned homes with a sense of disappointment.
Sunday’s demonstration of PTI was not different from other protest rallies of the party except the addition of more participants at D-Chowk, the venue where the Imran Khan’s party has been staging protest for nearly four months.
Political activists from far-flung areas of the country, who reached the venue in the afternoon, were quite charged and hopeful that their party will announce some decisive steps as Imran Khan had dubbed the demonstration to be a decisive one. However, they were observed in the evening disheartened.
“We waited for the day and expected a decisive moment. But at the end it turned out to be simple conclusion of the rally. We were prepared for any eventuality. We wanted to an end to the prolonged sit-in. But Khan wants us to do more,” said Zahid Khattak, a PTI supporter who had come from Karak district of KP.
Zahid, an office-bearer of Insaf Change Force (ICF), has been a regular participant of his party’s sit-in outside Parliament House and is convinced that the government would not bow down to the agitation unleashed by PTI.
Interaction with some PTI’s diehard supporters at the venue revealed that the participants expected some bold decisions from party chief Imran Khan with majority anticipating that Khan would announce conclusion of the 109-day long sit-in and will announce some new strategies. Soon after Khan announced that he would jam major cities in Pakistan as protest against the government as well as keep on the sit-in at D-Chowk, some PTI workers expressed resentment over the next strategy.
Unlike the past rallies of PTI, it was noticed on Sunday that crowd was not responsive to the speech of Imran Khan mainly because he spoke nothing new and instead said what participants had already heard from him in the past.
There was no more free meal or drink for participants. Moreover, there were no arrangements for the people to stay for night. Most of the participants were observed leaving the venue during Khan’s speech and rushed to the transport facilities as they had to go back to their native towns.  Some mismanagement on part of the organisers was observed as the pavilion reserved for female supporters was occupied at some points by male workers with some women facing hardships to reach their enclosure.
At some places on the Parade Avenue, both male and female were observed sharing common place as the PTI volunteers were unable to keep seats reserved for women. Some women were observed leaving the venue before Imran Khan’s speech.
With Imran Khan giving new tasks to supporters for the chilly month of December, PTI workers think the targets were too high at a time when supporters have already gone through hectic anti-government agitations.