Two days after calling off a two-month-long anti-government sit-in in Islamabad Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri on Thursday said that the war continues but the commander has changed the front to achieve the objectives of Revolution Dharna. Addressing a public meeting here the PAT chief said he was not going home but would travel city to city which will take away the sleep of the rulers.
He rejected the impression of any under hand deal with the government for his sudden decision to end the sit-in at the Red Zone in Islamabad and said had it been so; people in such a large number would not have come to his meeting today.
Qadri said that he would not have been able to convey the 'message of revolution' from city to city if he continued the Islamabad sit-in. "I do not travel by air. It would have taken me as many as 15 days to travel to all places. I could not have left behind my supporters in Islamabad," the PAT chief said. "It was God's will to give 'the Pharaohs' some time. The government did not immediately fall, but God gave us a gift. The entire nation awoke to the idea of revolution," he told supporters in Abbottabad.
He claimed that even children were now urging Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to step down by shouting the slogan 'Go Nawaz Go!' "The time is near when new-born infants will not cry but will shout 'Go Nawaz Go!'" he claimed."Who says the dharna is over? This dharna will become the death of the status quo," he said.
Qadri referred to his massive rallies in Faisalabad, Lahore and Abbottabad and said he would be holding another Dharna rally in Haripur on Friday. He said the PAT would take a pause during Muharram and then hold rallies in Bhakkar on November 23, in Sargodha on December 5, and on December 25 in Karachi at the Mausoleum of Quaid-e-Azam.He challenged his opponents that if the Bhakkar rally does not resemble with the scene of Minar-i-Pakistan, then I will call off the protest.
Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) said that he ended his two-month long Islamabad sit-in to transform it into a countrywide movement." The battle has not ended yet, rather it has begun now," Qadri said. Qadri urged his critics to remain patient and must not worry about his anti-government movement. He vowed to continue his movement till the incumbent system of status quo is buried. Qadri said his party would participate in the electoral process, however, he added that any election under existing Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is unacceptable to him.
He demanded from all the members of the ECP to tender their resignations otherwise the PAT workers would encircle the offices of the commission. Dr Tahirul Qadri said that Abbottabad has given its verdict in favour of revolution. "Who's right and who's wrong will only be decided by the people of Pakistan", said PAT chief. He said that no 'paid' journalist or analyst can decide whether the movement is successful or not. He said that he will never give up his objective. "We have neither given up our objective, nor shall do it in future", he said.