Sit-ins in Pakistan

2. PRESENTED BY:
MAHEK SHAKEEL
ZAINAB SHABBIR
Presented To:
Miss- Shafina Shah

3. TOPIC:
Current Protests And Dharnas
In Pakistan

4. INTRODUCTION TO DHARNA:
A dharna is a non-violent sit-in protest, which may
include fast undertaken at the door of an offender,
especially a debtor. Dharna used in Pakistan by Qazi
Hussain Ahmed and Jammat e Islami Pakistan in 1993.

5. HISTORY:
The Azadi March (Freedom march), formerly named Tsunami march is a public
protest march in Pakistan organized by the Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaaf party
against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, over claims of governmental manipulations
in the 2013 general election. Party leader Imran Khan announced plans for a protest
march travelling from Lahore to Islamabad in August to a throng of protesters in a
PTI jalsa. Khan had initially named this planned protest march “Tsunami march”
but later changed the name to “Azadi march” (or the “Freedom march”) since its
slated start date coincided with Pakistan's 67th independence dayon 14 August
2014.

6. CONTINUE:
On 17 June 2014, a violent clash occurred between the Punjab Police and PAT
activists resulting in deaths of several protesters from police gunfire. After
almost 11 hours of the standoff, the anti-encroachment squad of the police force
launched an operation to remove the barriers from the road leading to the
offices of Minhaj-ul-Quran and the residence of Tahir-ul-Qadri in Model Town,
Lahore. In mid-August 2014, Islamic Scholar Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri led
thousands of people in hundreds of cars, buses and trucks towards the federal
capital, Islamabad, from the provincial capital, Lahore.
As of the end of September 2014, the Inqilab March is conducting sit-in protests
with allied partner Imran Khan, After the announcement of the Azadi March, it
was expected that Tahir-ul-Qadri. This alliance between the two parties resulted
in two parallel marches by Qadri and Imran Khan (with the goal of mutual
protection in any civil crackdown).

7. PROTEST DEMONSTRATIONS:
Phase 1 — Islamabad jalsa:
On 14th August (when year passed) from all
Pakistan people gathered in Islamabad to
support Imran Khan , where Khan demanded 4
constituency investigation from government and
until that decided to protest in-front of election
commission offices every Friday.
Phase 2 — Karachi jalsa 21st September:
In the Karachi Jalsa, Khan addressed a huge crowd
and criticized the role of the judiciary in the
election. In his usual tone, he also commented on
the outcomes of the result.
PTI Islamabad jalsa: PTI Karachi Jalsa:

8. Phase 3 — Lahore jalsa 28th September:
On 28th September 2014, Khan managed to
gather a massive crowd at the Minar e
Pakistan where he announced plans for the
Azadi March, calling the protest march the final
phase of his movement against electoral
fraud in the 2013 general election.
Phase 4— Mianwali jalsa 2nd October:
On 2nd Oct 2014, PTI moved to Mianwali,
hometown of Imran Khan and organized a large
gathering. In this jalsa,for the first time a huge
number of women participation was seen in the
history of Mianwali.
PTI Lahore Jalsa: PTI Mianwali Jalsa:

9. After Eid ul Adha, PTI's next stop
was Multan.The crowd gathered in Multan to
hear Imran Khan's speech is said to have
exceeded 15,000.Due to the mismanagement,
seven people were killed in the stampede that
occurred after the speech of Imran Khan
when all of the crowd and people rushed out
of the gates.The management had
deliberately closed the gates of the stadium
due to which the incident took place
On 17th Oct 2014, PTI tsunami hit Sargodha
after the victory of PTI backed candidate in
Multan by-election. Like all previous rallies, a
large number of people were present to
welcome their leader in Sargodha. Learning
from Multan incident, Sargodha Jalsa was
managed in a more efficient way.
PTI Multan Jalsa PTI Sargodha Jalsa:

10. On 24th Oct 2014, PTI organized rally in Zahoor
Elahi Stadium in Gujrat. This was the last jalsa
of PTI before Muharram. A large number of
crowds gathered again as per other rallies of
PTI.
Imran Khan announced the end of protest on
security reasons following the Peshawar
terrorist school attack.
PTI Gujrat Jalsa: End Of March:

11. Inqalab March 2014:

12. INQALAB MARCH PROTEST
DEMONSTRATIONS:
Dr. Tahir-ul-Qadri's addressed a big rally at
Dhobi Ghat, Faisalabad on 12th OCT
2014. He said Pakistan and corruption can
no longer go side by side, as the entire
nation has made a final decision to bring
about a revolution in the count.
A large number of people have gathered
at Lahore jalsa Minar e Pakistan to
welcome the Tahir-ul-Qadri’s -led
march that has entered the capital city
and is making its way forward. Many
women have also turned up at the
show, some of them with their kids.
PAT Faisalabad 12 October
2014
PAT Lahore 19 October 2014

13. On 23 Oct 2014, PAT hit Abotabad after
the victory of previous jalsa in Lahore.
Like all previous rallies, a large number
of people were present to welcome their
leader in Abotabad.
PAT held the last rally in Haripur. A large
number of crowds gathered in this rally.
Dr. Tahirul Qadri regretted that even after
registration of an FIR against the
incumbent Chief Minister Punjab in the
Model Town case, he did not tender
resign from his office. He said the country
was being run on foreign loans and the
nation has been sold out against dollars.
PAT Abotabad 23
October 2014:
PAT Haripur 24 October
2014

14. Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri on Tuesday
night announced an end to his party's protest demonstration in
the federal capital on Oct 21, 2014. The announcement ends
over two months of protest sit-in in Islamabad which set off a
political crisis in the country.
End Of March:

15. CRITICISM ON LONG MARCH :
Criticism against the march emerged
within the party when three national
parliamentarians and majority of
members of K-P Assembly refused to
resign. Moreover on August 31, 2014, PTI
Central president Javed Hashmi distanced
himself from PTI chief Imran Khan.
A few cases of harassment of women,
teasing and disrespect have been
reported but there is no reasonable
evidence present for this claim. Dance
at PTI jalsa has also been condemned
on Social media.
INTERNAL
CRITICISM:
Harassment of
women:

16. The Azadi March became notable for popularizing the slogan 'Go Nawaz Go',
which protesters chanted against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Sharif and
members of his party were greeted with this slogan in several cities including
Sargodha, Muzaffarabad, Sialkot etc. Upon Prime Minister's visit to United
States of America to attend 69th session of United Nations General Assembly,
a large number of PTI Protestants gathered outside the UN office and chanted
'Go Nawaz Go'.
#GoNawazGo also became one of the most used hash tags of the year on
social media in Pakistan.
Go Nawaz Go Slogan:

17. IMPACT OF LONG MARCH ON SOCIETY:
Educational institutions
in Islamabad were due to start
educational activities after summer
holidays on 11 August 2014 but had
to remain closed until 24 August
2014.
By August 31, the government
claimed economic losses directly
resulting from the sit in were
between Rs500 million and
Rs800 million.
Closure Of Educational
Institutions In
Islamabad:
Economic Losses To
Country:

18. Regarding the march, the Daily
Times wrote that it "took away
the capital's charm" because,
while such rallies are a
democratic right, the protesters
left behind a trail of garbage and
made the local inhabitants' life
abnormal.
Role Of Media: