PTI workers are racing away in preparation for thepublic rally at Minar-i-Pakistan on October 30. Tents have been fixed around four big plots where approximately forty thousand chairs are to be placed for the participants.
Zaheer Abbas Khokhar is heading the committee in charge of the arrangements for the rally.
Muhammad Asif, who works for Arif Sons, a catering company which is rendering services for the rally, told The Express Tribunethat six Mazda trucks were transporting tents, chairs, generators and lighting for the rally.
“Our regular staff as well as 30 additional workers are busy in arranging and cleaning the chairs. Thirty thousand chairs have already been placed, while the remaining ten thousand will be placed soon. A day before the rally 300 KV sound proof generators will illuminate the rally grounds,” Asif said.
Lahore Tehrik-i-Insaaf president Mian Mahmoodur Rashid said they were expecting more than a hundred thousand people at the rally. He said, “Youth, corporate employees, women, trade unionists are all supporting us.” Yasir Gilani said they were expecting more than 65 different groups to come out in smaller rallies and head to the main event.
Khalid Imtiaz, a gardener employed by the Parks and Horticultural Authority who works at Minar-i-Pakistan, said he was unsure about PTI’s choice of venue. “PML N, the bigger party is holding its rally at a comparatively small place, Nasser Bagh. PTI is at Minar-i-Pakistan, to me it’s a big gamble,” he said.
Architect Mian Zahid is responsible for setting up the stage.
He said that only seven to eight people will sit on the stage, while another 150 will occupy the VIP enclosure. Between the crowd and the leaders on stage there will be a security patrol, he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 27th, 2011.
