Concerned Citizens of Pakistan rally at Zaman Park

Concerned Citizens of Pakistan had a rally on Sunday the 6th of January, 2008. Around 300 people from Civil society, lawyers, WAf members, doctors, PPP members, JAC members, students and teachers participated, amongst others of course. It was a pretty good rally because we managed to create a lot of noise and get a lot of attention. It all started at Aitzaz Ahsan’s house, which has been declared a sub-jail. His house arrest has been prolonged for another three months. This protest was mostly about freeing Aitzaz Ahsan and restoring the judiciary.

The rally started at Aitzaz Ahsan’s house in my tiny little neighbourhood: Zaman Park. After speeches, we walked up the Mall underpass (as in we were going the opposite way on a one way road). We chanted our slogans, held placards saying “Restore the judiciary” etc, and distributed leaflets in support of the ousted Chief Justice. The police were quite accommodating, but they asked us to turn back from the Mall intersection since it was a major intersection. We didn’t listen. We marched right on the Mall, blocking traffic and creating a little bit of chaos. While the majority of the people stood on the green belt and chanted their slogans, some of us decided to aggressively hand out the Urdu leaflets. Because I was feeling terribly energetic, and perhaps a bit manic, I started blocking cars, making them open up their windows and accept the leaflet I was giving them. I also opened a few doors- in my defence I asked them top put their window down, but they didn’t listen. I also stopped motorbikes, but that wasn’t easy! However, we managed to make them all grab the leaflets out of our hands as they went by.

Thorough all this, the police patiently stood on the side and let us do what we wanted. The one time a policeman tried to stop me, I asked him to arrest me. That shut him up. I even managed to make some of them accept the leaflets despite their constant refusals. I definitely amused one photographer who kept following me. Eventually we sang the national anthem and went back to light candles.

I’m only writing this because I’m hoping someone will read this post and realise that protests can be a very fun way to deal with one’s frustration. They’re not all about sitting in front of the High Court and fasting. They’re not about crazy mobs. They’re not about unrest. They’re about solidarity and strength. They’re a great way to interact with people who want to make a difference. The world of the protestors is worlds apart from the coke snorting, partying all night while drunk off their asses crowd. I constantly hear Lahoris whine about the lack of intellectual stimulation around here and the party crowd. Too many people I know are getting sick of meeting the same people over and over again in different clothes. Every party is the same… a repeat of the night before. It gets monotonous. Protests are a great way to meet conscientious people who are far more interested in worthwhile discourse than who they’re going to sleep with next and how much alcohol they’re going to consume. This is side of Lahore you all (pretend to?) want to see. Come join us. We need you.