KARACHI: The caravans started to arrive at Bagh-e-Jinnah in Karachi on Sunday as the PDM was all set to flex its muscles though without PPP, the ruling party in Sindh, after a long time.
The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) will demonstrate its political power at Bagh-e-Jinnah where PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif and PDM chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman will be the star speakers of the event.
Preparations in this regard have been completed and hundreds of thousands of chairs have been placed as the supporters and activists of the PDM component parties started to land at the venue.
Several caravans from interior Sindh reached the venue after getting a warm welcome at Sohrab Goth where camps have been set up to greet them.
Around 5,000 volunteers of the Ansar-ul-Islam Force of Maulana Fazl’s JUI-F have taken charge of Bagh-e-Jinnah security. The contingents of the Ansar-ul-Islam Force also paraded in front of the mausoleum of Quaid-e-Azam.
Light and sound systems have been installed at the venue while Sindh Police, Rangers and Ansar-ul-Islam volunteers were looking after the security.
The ruling party in Sindh, PPP and ANP will not participate in the PDM public gathering as both parties had parted ways with the anti-government alliance due to differences over alliance’s future plans against the government.
On Saturday, the PDM leaders told media persons after a summit meeting in Karachi that they had decided to reactivate the mass movement against Imran Khan’s government by staging road caravans and public meetings. Maulana Fazl said that the PDM had decided not to confront the PPP and focusing on one goal of ousting the sitting government.
Maulana Fazl had suggested mass-resignations from the parliament and jail-filling movement to pressure the government alongside resuming a series of anti-government rallies and sit-ins as he believed resignations can only oust Imran Khan from power.
He said they had decided to stage a protest during the address of President Arif Alvi to the joint session of the parliament.
Rejecting the government’s move on election reforms, Fazl said the idea of using Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in the elections was a conspiracy against the democracy in Pakistan.
He said the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) itself had already expressed some reservations and objections to the EVMs while the rest of the world had also rejected its use in elections.
The PDM leader also clarified that women would participate in Sunday’s public meeting at Mazar-e-Quaid in Karachi and the PDM will protect them.
