By Special Correspondent
ISLAMABAD: Supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will kick start their ‘Jail Bharo Tehreek’ today (Wednesday) wherein ‘more than 200 supporters’ would court arrest in Punjab’s capital Lahore.
It would be interesting to note how the government and the state agencies respond to the PTI movement. The social media wing of the PTI remained busy throughout the day yesterday with party workers and leaders sharing messages motivating the supporters to become part of the phase-wise court arrest drive. “Fill up prisons and shatter the idols of fear,” said PTI chief Imran Khan in a video message on Twitter. In an apparent bid to muster up support for the movement, the former ruling party also took out rallies in multiple cities, including Faisalabad, Kasur, and Sheikhupura, on different pretexts. Party’s top leadership, however, will not give up their freedom on day 1.
Some second-tier leaders, including Senator Waleed Iqbal, former provincial minister Murad Raas, former Punjab governor Umer Sarfraz Cheema along with more than 200 workers would court arrest in the first phase of the movement.
The opening day of the movement would start with a meeting to honour the party members in the afternoon. After the meeting, the party supporters would march towards The Mall — where section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) of 1973 has already been imposed — via Jail Road to give themselves up for arrests. In case, the government declined to detain the PTI activists, the rally would convert into a sit-in at the Charing Cross in front of the Punjab Assembly.
PTI’s plan
After Lahore, it would be Peshawar’s turn to launch the court arrest drive on February 23. Rawalpindi will follow on February 24, Multan on February 25, Gujranwala on February 26, Sargodha on February 27, and Sahiwal on February 28. Faisalabad will join the movement on March 1.
The PTI is quite hopeful about the success of the movement as the focal person of the ‘Jail Bharo Tehreek’ Senator Ejaz Chaudhry appeared confident in this regard. He said the party had sought 200 volunteers for the first day of the drive but more than 2,000 have signed up for the drive. He said those party leaders, who would contest the upcoming by-polls on the PTI platform, would not be part of the movement.
The PTI believes that it would be a “unique event” in the political history of Pakistan. Chaudrhy said that no political party had ever “dared” to start a movement where its workers and leaders would volunteer for arrests. The PTI leader said that the ‘Jail Bharo Movement’ is against sky-rocketing inflation, human rights violations and the deal with the International Monetary Fund.
‘Miscreants’ to be arrested
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said that the Imran-led party’s court arrest drive was aimed at creating political instability and a law-and-order situation in the country. He said the PTI is seeking media attention by creating a drama through the ‘court arrest drive’, the state-run news agency quoted him as saying. The government has decided that the miscreants would be arrested and the law-and-order would be ensured in the country at all costs.
According to the sources, women and poor workers would be spared during the drive. The interior minister said the record of the ‘miscreants’ would be maintained and their activities would be mentioned in their character certificates issued by the police.
It would be interesting to note how the government responds to the movement. A day earlier, the Punjab government imposed Section 144 on ‘Gulberg Main Boulevard’, ‘The Mall’ as well as outside the Punjab Civil Secretariat and its adjoining roads to prohibit all kinds of sit-ins, assemblies and processions.
