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[Report from Beena Sarwar]
KARACHI RALLY ˆ pix up at http://www.teeth.com.pk/blog/ (thanks Awab) - Well done, all those who worked so hard on getting together a show of strength in Karachi. It went smoothly & peacefully. The only downside was that the hired pickup with speakers leading it often went too fast (maybe pushed by the police who wanted the rally to end quickly) and that the event coincided with the Irtiqa seminar on the judiciary held at the Press Club (because of the rally date change), presided over by Minhaj Barna (who launched his book of poetry right before the Live with Talat event).
Protesters started to assemble at Regal Chowk at around 4:00 pm. Within minutes the crowd swelled up to a few hundred under the watchful eyes of a dozen or so policemen. Participants shouted slogans against Musharraf and the Emergency and called for the restoration of the judiciary and media freedom. One constable watching the spectacle of diverse flags (including several Pakistan flags) and placards amidst the din of traffic and full-throated slogans told a journalist, "In our hearts we say the same thing as you. But what we are on duty and we can‚t join you."
The diversity of the participants cut across the divisions of right- and left-wing politics, ethnicity, class, education and gender. People from various walks of life present ranged from lawyers, doctors, engineers, journalists, writers, to labourers, students, and housewives, as well as the families of the victims of enforced disappearances in Balochistan, brought to the rally by Baloch Students Organization (BSO) Azad and their dynamic chaddar-clad central executive committee member, Karima Baloch.
Several political parties participated, including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Awami Tehreek, PML-N (Shazia Faizi), National Worker‚s Party (Yusuf Mastikhan and Usman Baloch), Labour Party of Pakistan (LPP, Nasir Mansoor), International Socialists, Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party(CMKP), Pukhtoonkhawa Milli Awami Party (PMAP), Jamat-e-Islami, and Shabab-e-Milli. Other groups included Islamic Lawyer Forum, Railway Workers Federation, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), Aurat Foundation, Women's Action Forum (WAF), Democratic Labour Action Committee, and the PC Workers Union.
Police officers initially refused to allow the rally participants to make their way in a procession through the crowded Saddar area to the Karachi Press Club barely a kilometer down the road, but had obviously been briefed not to use force. After some negotiations, they allowed the rally to proceed.
An interesting mix of slogans was heard as leftist and right-wing parties marched sided by side, ranging from "Asia Surkh Hai!" (Asia is Red) to religious-oriented slogans. Participants held up placards featuring images of Che Guevara, the 'non-PCO judges', and the 'disappeared'. "This is the essence of democracy," remarked a participant.
Akbar Shah, an elderly tourist guide in a shabby shalwar kurta and tennis shoes standing on the sidewalk raised his hands in appreciation as the rally turned towards the Press Club and talked aloud to himself, "Go Musharraf go, so nice, good slogans."
Enthused by the crowd, he accompanied them to the Press Club where leaders from various parties addressed the gathering from the back of a hired pick-up vehicle. They condemned the illegitimate usurpation of power by Musharraf and urged for the restoration of Judiciary which can be the corner stone for the return of democracy in Pakistan.
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A Dawn TV News report on the Rally of December 14
