ISLAMABAD - Getting pace closer to the evening, there was a feel of some rituals being performed there. Walking through a humming multitude of men and women, 18-year-old Habiba, an undergraduate from Lahore, seemed in a hurry to reach her family. They were accommodated under a newly arranged shed on a patch of leafy grass along the road outside the Parliament House. Her modest yet unflinching gait, piercing through the crowd on the way, helped her not to slip her track.
For the people there, afternoon had almost replaced morning as the real beginning of the day. Night drove it to the peak when fiery speeches stirred their emotions. Staged gathering gave vent to sentiments transforming their energies into dancing and chanting slogans.
The spirited young girl had to jump over the bodies of women, old and young, lying on the same patch, to get her mother. Habiba's family is a staunch follower of PTI chief Dr Tahirul Qadri. Eight members of her family, including Habiba, were among the people who started ‘Inqilab’ march from Lahore.
Sitting beside her mother, Habiba declined any possibility of accepting Imran Khan as their common leader as a result of negotiations with government until Dr Qadri would allow. "Even our demonstrators have not merged with those present in the sit-in of PTI. After all, he is a politician like those we have demanded to step down." she held.
Her 17-year-old brother, Murtaza Fayyaz, got injured in Model Town tragedy. Though the injury was minor, the happening had a wide-ranging impact on his perceptions developing more disapproval for current political leaders and system but further endorsement for his ideological leader.
Despite water and food shortage and other problems, PAT supporters seemed determined in their mission. "We will do whatever our leader instructs to do. We can stay here for months if he orders. Before leaving home, we had sworn that we will stand by him even if we had to face violence, hunger, thirst, bad weather or any other difficulty," mother and her two children spoke in a way one would utter a learnt pledge of allegiance.
The place of their stay had become stinky with foul-smelling, rotten food items dropped here and there and the nasty smell coming from the open-air human waste in the adjoining areas.
A group of three sisters from Dina, Jhelum, was sitting behind Habiba's family; all educated. Their pale faces with sweat pouring out and soiled clothes were revealing their sufferings of staying on roads for days hoping to bring a revolution. A change; a better life; justice and equal rights for all in a new Pakistan: a description that they term as Inqilab.
Kiran Ahmad, the eldest sister who was also a PAT worker, had her 3-year-old daughter, Rida Ahmad, with her. The little girl was continuously weeping due to thirst and an agonising heat radiating from the burning sun above. But, still, their spirits were high. They felt satiated whenever they thought that just a few feet away their beloved leader was with them, he was in an air-conditioned container though.
Someone could easily find the people compelled to join the procession just for being associated with Dr Qadri for many years as it was with the 65-year-old woman from Sargodha and a young girl, Aliya, from Mandi Bahauddin, who despite having a psychological problem came here just because her mother was a PAT Nazima.
Adjacent to their protest area, PTI workers could be seen holding batons or party flags. A clear demarcation in terms of area by strings tied to the vehicles was visible between the two sit-ins.
"We are carrying these batons only for security purpose and to avoid any wrongdoing and harm to the vehicles here," claimed Nasir Satti, a PTI worker from Abbottabad. "We are committed to follow the orders of Khan with a surety that he will not ask us to do something beyond limits," the worker said.
Female workers were missing at the time. When asked where the females were, the worker said, "They prefer to stay at homes in the day but they come in the evening and go back late night as you can see they have started to come now." "Not a single female worker stays at night because no camp is available for them here," added Rizwan, a PTI worker from Lahore.
Rizwan told the PTI supporters living in Islamabad were hosting many female workers at their homes who have come from other cities. Before he could speak further another group of workers gathered around him and started chanting slogans. It seemed another demarcation between the protesters of two sit-ins. But, this time, it was in their attitude.
Ikhlaq, a government employee, had brought her daughter to the sit-in on her wish. He had been attending the protest of PTI until Imran Khan announced civil disobedience movement.