This movie has taken the cloak (and clothes) off many segments of current Pakistani society and parts of it will make the viewer quite uncomfortable.
What used to be true about film entertainment originating from south Asia, especially Pakistan was that it sure took its sweet time while reaching California. We were usually the last to catch up (unless it was available online) but still remained no less appreciative or critical than the people say in New York, London and Dubai. This time however, Shoaib Mansoor’s movie “Bol” was released throughout the US and Canada around the same time. But not too many reviews have surfaced, here, possibly because of the seriousness of the film and its grim subject matter. Is it because members of the Diaspora in North America try to ignore our grim social realities and just prefer more entertaining films? The answer to that may be a qualified “yes” but reminders like “Slumdog Millionaire” from last year just cannot be ignored. And in the same vein neither can one ignore “Bol” (Speak or more accurately Speak Out) because rarely does such a bold film originate from Pakistan.
My wife and I were the only two people seated in the theatre in the Sacramento, California suburb of Elk Grove to see this film so we can even boast of a “private showing”. Salman Khan’s latest film “Bodyguard” was playing next door and the number of people coming out of there was far larger than the two of us. But if one can make such a statement, it is that “Bol” is a more realistic movie and thus has had fewer people viewing it! And this is not another attempt to incite India-Pakistan tensions. “Bodyguard” is surely far more entertaining and Bollywood trumps Lollywood in quality films anytime. But watching “Bol” was an “experience” and not necessarily an entertaining one, even though singer Atif Aslam’s character Mustafa did try to add that aspect to the formula through his music and somewhat romantic pursuit of Ayesha (Mahira Khan).
Before going any further there are two advisories. First, please do not take your kids to see “Bol’ because the movie is just too intense for them. And second, if you are from the conservative mindset, “Bol” will generate many difficult questions. After having seen it now, in my opinion this movie is not anti-religious. But it sure makes a very disturbing statement against societal and religious hypocrisy. In other words this movie has taken the cloak (and clothes) off many segments of current Pakistani society and parts of it will make the viewer quite uncomfortable.
The movie starts with the sad face of Zainub (Humaima Malick) who has been sentenced to death for murder. Her mercy appeal is rejected callously by the President but her unusual request to speak to the media just before her execution is approved. This is Zainub’s story and that of her father Hakeem Shafa’atulah Khan (Manzar Sehbai) and his diminishing financial fortunes and increasing family size entirely made up of girls. That till a “son” is born of questionable gender. Unfortunately Saifullah Khan or Saifi’s (played by Sagar and by Amr Kashmiri) birth is hailed only by the local transvestite (Heejra) community. It enrages his father the Hakeem, to the point that he wants to kill him. But the many women in the Khan household protect him and never allow him to leave the house so that the family “shame” remains hidden.
But how long can a family protect Saifi, a gifted artist from the cruel world? He is finally taken out helped by his artistic touch and paints trucks to make some money for his now struggling family. He is also raped there. His father is enraged and conducts an “honor killing” to hide his shame which Zainub witnesses but cannot prevent.
In translation “Yes it’s true that I am a murderer, but a criminal I am not,” aptly describes Zainub’s character as she continues with her story told from the scaffold in front of the media (per her last wish). Zainub and her father the Hakeem are the two main characters on which the story focuses. Humaima Malick’s acting is good but that of Manzar Sehbai as the father who we come to hate in this film is superb. Two others that stand out are Shafqat Cheema as the pimp Sahka Kunjar from Lahore’s “Heera Mandi” (Diamond Market) and last but not least the stunning Iman Ali as the courtesan Meena in a role that leaves one speechless.
If one is not from amongst the Urdu-Hindi-Punjabi speaking realm, the nuances built into the “Bol” script will not be easy to pick up. The story as written is good but the symbolism which the Urdu language is famous for is plentiful here and that makes it memorable. If “Bol” just had to have another name, it would be “Bold” in English. Shoaib Mansoor has really pushed the envelope here.
This movie is not a masterpiece of direction and the sets and cinematography although adequate, could have been better. But “Bol’ in my opinion is the best movie to come out of Pakistan since Sabiha Sumar’s Partition film “Khamosh Pani” (Silent Waters). It is also perfectly timed for silent Pakistanis worldwide to speak out, denounce injustice and violence especially against women and minorities there. Speak up before it is too late.
Looking back, there was a time when some of us predicted that Slumdog Millionaire was heading to the Oscars and were somewhat ridiculed. Although “Bol” cannot be a contender for best picture, one should not be surprised if it is considered for the “Best Foreign Film” category. It certainly deserves such recognition.
There is no doubt that this is a very grim movie. Some of the worst aspects of Pakistani society are exposed in it. Hypocrisy rules the roost here but the message that comes out is that claiming helplessness is no longer an option. Fair minded Pakistanis, women and minorities need to fight back and raise their voice.
To conclude, some people were not happy that I circulated information about how to see this movie to them. I have to admit that we were as shaken as they were as we were after watching it. But like Saifi and his questionable gender, the truth cannot be hidden forever. “Bol” may not be too entertaining but watching it is certainly a learning experience.
(Photograph courtesy of Geo TV-Films)
My wife and I were the only two people seated in the theatre in the Sacramento, California suburb of Elk Grove to see this film so we can even boast of a “private showing”. Salman Khan’s latest film “Bodyguard” was playing next door and the number of people coming out of there was far larger than the two of us. But if one can make such a statement, it is that “Bol” is a more realistic movie and thus has had fewer people viewing it! And this is not another attempt to incite India-Pakistan tensions. “Bodyguard” is surely far more entertaining and Bollywood trumps Lollywood in quality films anytime. But watching “Bol” was an “experience” and not necessarily an entertaining one, even though singer Atif Aslam’s character Mustafa did try to add that aspect to the formula through his music and somewhat romantic pursuit of Ayesha (Mahira Khan).
(Photograph courtesy of Geo TV-Films)
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MUSLIM TALENT ABOUND DESPITE BASTARD,S SUPRESSING LIKE M F HUSSAIN
Graduation Matriculation rate 21 % as opposed to Hindian 41 %
Minority scholorship to riot victim from Delhui stopped by Modi Hindutva Govt
800% more poverty in victim grea than average well to do hindian prosecutor
50 % more poverty than even back ward sceduled castes dalits lowly class
Laws to prevent sale of land resulting and perpetuating ghettoisation
THEY COERCE YOU TO BECOME IDOL WORSHIPPER HARAMNZADA :dry: :dry: :dry: :dry: :dry:
become of this nation of ever fewer women?
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Genocide of India's daughters
Last updated at 08:49 04 July 2006
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What will become of this nation of ever fewer women?
Ten million female foetuses have been illegally aborted in India by mothers desperate to bear a son. What will become of this nation of ever fewer women? ANNE SEBBA investigates:
May you be the mother of a hundred sons - this is the Sanskrit blessing given to a Hindu woman in India on her wedding day. And the minute she falls pregnant, there is the traditional chanting of mantras by the other women of the family, calling for the foetus, if female, to be transformed into a male.
Increasingly, such age-old beliefs are becoming a curse in India, as, in this deeply patriarchal society, women have become obsessed with giving birth only to sons.
?Asking me why I need a son, instead of a daughter, is like asking me why I have two eyes and not one,? says one woman in the northern district of Haryana, who has just had an abortion after discovering that the baby she was carrying was female.
This woman is by no means alone in taking such shocking and drastic measures to avoid giving birth to a girl. In fact, such is the widespread determination to produce only sons that, since ultrasound scans became widely available in the Eighties, the number of abortions carried out on female foetuses in India has risen at a terrifying pace.
Even by the most conservative estimates, sex-selective abortion in India now accounts for the termination of some ten million female foetuses over the past 20 years. That means that each year a staggering half a million girls have been prevented from being born.
?This is the world?s biggest genocide ever,? says Chetan Sharma, founder of the Delhi-based organisation Datamation, which campaigns against female foeticide. According to India?s 2001 census, the number of nought to six-year-old girls per 1,000 boys was 927, a dramatic dip from 962 in 1981.
?The future is frightening. Over the next five years we could see more than a million foetuses eliminated every year,? says Dr Sabu George, who has charted the problem. ?At this pace we?ll soon have no girls born in the country. We don?t know where it will stop.?
The female shortfall is not a new problem in India. Even during the days of the Raj, and the first census in 1881, the British made efforts to eradicate female infanticide. But the problem of female foeticide is a new phenomenon fuelled by advances in technology and the widespread liberal attitudes to abortion.
In 1971 India was one of the first countries to legalise abortion, partly intended as a means of population control.
?Today, anyone can walk into a government hospital and ask for an immediate abortion up to the 20th week of pregnancy, free, merely by saying there has been a failure of contraception,? explains Kalpana Sharma, whose columns in The Hindu newspaper regularly rail against the dangers of undervaluing women.
Women cannot admit that they knew the sex of their baby in advance of having an abortion because that is illegal in India.
According to a law passed by the Indian government in 1994, hospitals, clinics and laboratories are not allowed to use prenatal diagnostic techniques ? including ultrasound scans like those pregnant women in the UK routinely undergo at 12 and 20 weeks ? for the purpose of determining the sex of the foetus.
However, this law has been widely ignored ? because local officials are reluctant to fight the will of the people.
Women know that if they produce only daughters, they will be pitied by everyone around them ? or, worse, abused. In many cases, it is even considered a betrayal of the family.
?I want a son as we have a big business,? says another woman who has undergone nine abortions of female foetuses. ?I want what my husband has built from scratch to go to his own blood.? But it is not just that in Indian families it is the son who will carry on the family name or business and take care of elderly parents.
Daughters are an enormous financial burden because when they marry, a dowry must be found. Although it is illegal both to give and receive a dowry, the practice continues and the demands made by the groom?s family are increasingly nothing short of extortion, according to Kalpana Sharma. These days, they often include jewellery, clothes, furniture, white goods, cars and even a new home.
Lavish weddings in exotic locations and with mammoth feasts are also expected, and the groom?s family often makes last-minute demands. ?Raising a female child is like watering your neighbour?s plant,? says one woman in Gujarat.
For the boy?s family, it is gain, gain, gain. But for the girl?s parents, financing the dowry and wedding often involves selling off land and spiralling into debt that becomes impossible to pay off.
Lifestyle choice
Female foeticide isn?t common only among poor families. Aborting a female foetus is increasingly becoming a lifestyle choice among wealthy women.
The states with the lowest ratios of girls to boys ? 820 females to every 1,000 males ? are also the most prosperous, like Punjab, Gujarat and Haryana. It is not simply that affluent women believe they will have a better standard of living if they have only sons.
It means, too, that there is more money to spend on sport, leisure and consumer goods, as well as more time to pursue a career. There is also the issue of land inheritance. Daughters are now legally entitled to an equal share of land when their parents die and many families do not want to see their legacy divided up.
The division of land has become a major factor in recent years because although sex-selective abortions are still largely an urban phenomenon, the easy availability of mobile scanning machines means doctors are now doing brisk business in rural areas.
Getting a licence for the equipment is easy and many so-called ?doctors? offer women the service without being qualified or registered.
There are 25,770 officially registered pre-natal units in India, but one doctor estimates there are as many as 70,000 ultrasound machines operating in the country. Nobody reports the unqualified technicians because it is not in their interest to do so.
Even the qualified doctors in registered clinics have ways of circumventing the law against using ultrasound tests to determine the sex of the foetus. If the ultrasound test shows a male foetus in the womb the doctor simply tells the nurse: ?I think this calls for sweets,? a well-known code to mean ?Good news, it?s a boy?. No paperwork is filled in, so there is no evidence of illegal practices.
Anyone found guilty of organising an illegal abortion theoretically faces a prison sentence of between three and five years and a fine of 10,000 rupees (£118). But only two men have been convicted since the law was introduced 12 years ago.
So why do such highly-trained doctors show such a disregard for the ethics of sex selection? Some doctors insist they are performing a valuable service by preventing divorces.
Others claim that the doctors? union has been over-zealous in protecting its own, and that the doctors and lawyers have formed a powerful nexus in the fight against official clampdowns ? to their mutual financial benefit.
Lucractive practice
The practice is hugely lucrative for doctors. Private doctors charge a minimum of 5,000 rupees (£60) for an abortion and often much more, depending on how far into the pregnancy the woman is. Dr Puneet Bedi, a specialist in fetal medicine, says: ?Everybody knows that this technological wonder [ultrasound] is being used at random, to diagnose and kill girls. Foeticide is performed by trained professionals with licences and registration numbers; it is a multi-billion rupee industry.?
Many social workers in India believe it is unfair to accuse women of being complicit in this genocide, a denial of the girl?s fundamental human right of being allowed to be born. A few believe they are acting out of kindness: ?Why bring a girl into the world who will be subjected to a dreadful life of misery?? one told me.
There are many stories, even in relatively prosperous families, of young girls being undernourished while boys are well-fed, or girls being treated as maids while the sons lead a life of leisure.
But more often than not, an abortion to terminate the development of a female foetus is an action forced on a woman by the twin pressures of a powerful mother-in-law and husband. A key reason for the woman?s compliance is the fear that they may be replaced by a younger, more fertile woman who will produce sons if they do not submit.
Alarmingly, this fear has spread to Indian women in the UK who face the same patriarchal attitudes. An increasing number are travelling to India for an abortion, as far fewer questions are asked there than in Britain.
?There is definitely an increase in abuse faced by Asian women in the UK who are mothers of girls,? said Jasvinder Sanghera, who runs an advice centre in Derby. ?We see women who are beaten or abused by their husband and especially their mother-in-law for producing daughters. They are not considered worthy or dutiful daughters-in-law.?
Tragically, there are already disturbing consequences of the falling ratio of females to males in India. In Gujarat, and some villages in Punjab, there are so few higher caste women that tribal women are being imported to service whole families of men ? father, sons and brothers. The demand for sexual services is such that in some areas middlemen have started supplying girls for between 500 rupees (£6) and 60,000 rupees (£711) a month. The money goes to the husband or father who hires her out.
Long-term worries are not simply the fear that such an imbalance will result in the rise of prostitution and sex trafficking. The danger to women?s emotional and physical health from repeated abortions is huge.
Sex-selective abortions are often performed later in the pregnancy and are therefore more dangerous. Only 20 per cent of all abortions conform to the provisions of Indian law and those performed outside hospital often result in complications that lead to the deaths of thousands of woman.
So how can this demographic catastrophe be averted?
The Indian government is taking steps to impose regulations on the registered ultrasound clinics throughout the country, but Chetan Sharma, of Datamation, says that local officials are guilty of corruption and will simply continue to turn a blind eye.
Feminists believe that until Indian society begins to value women, no amount of laws will help.
?Until women take control of their own lives and refuse to give in to pressure, nothing will change,? says Rasil Basu, who has made a film about the crisis called Vanishing Daughters. ?Empowerment of women is the only answer.?
Kalpana Sharma, of The Hindu newspaper, believes the beginnings of change have been prompted by recent revelations that girls are consistently doing better than their male counterparts at school and college and are beginning to branch into traditionally male fields like engineering and medicine.
?I know women who have been persuaded to have multiple abortions and who feel absolutely rotten, but they have no choice ? either abortion or divorce,? says Sharma.
?But I sense things are changing with a younger generation of very well-educated women who are not prepared to put up with this. Women are starting to find their courage, even if it means leaving their marriage.?
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:angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry:
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INDIA: To end BSF violence what more does it require?
January 19, 2012
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The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) and its partner organisation, the Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), have been documenting and reporting cases of extreme forms of brutality committed by the Border Security Force (BSF) stationed along the Indo-Bangladesh border in West Bengal state. The latest is a video of extreme torture by the BSF of a civilian that reportedly happened on 16 January 2012. The video shows blood-chilling torture, committed by the BSF. The incident is a shame and the brutality documented alarming, suggesting that the officers require psychiatric assistance, a condition that challenges their very legitimacy to guard the country's border.
Since the past eight years, MASUM is reporting directly and through international human rights organisations like the AHRC, cases against the BSF to the Indian authorities. So far MASUM has reported about 800 cases. These are cases of torture and other forms of custodial violence, rape, murder, extortion and corruption. The AHRC is not aware of any open and credible action taken against any of the officers mentioned in these cases, though every possible detail has been provided to the authorities.
Every case report includes a narrative of the incident, the name of the BSF officers involved, that of the outpost and battalion where the officers were stationed, the name of the police station having jurisdiction over the place where the incident happened, the name of the witnesses and their statements as recorded by MASUM, and the name and other details of the victim. This information is sent to officers, including but not limited to the Director General of the BSF, Union Home Minister, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the Chief Minister and Home Minister of West Bengal, Inspector General of Police and the District Magistrate having jurisdiction upon the area where the incident happened. These cases reported globally are available at AHRC's Urgent Appeals website where cases from India are reported.
Each one of these communication calls for specific actions to be taken in the incident, at the very minimum, recording the complaint of the victim and the statements of the witnesses. However, according to the information available to the AHRC, not in a single case the BSF command has initiated a credible enquiry or taken effective corrective measures against the officers. Neither has the BSF nor the government cared to acknowledge the receipt of these communications. The response from the NHRC also has been thus far disheartening.
The NHRC's action is always to direct the state police to investigate the case. The reports prepared by the West Bengal state police, always absolve the BSF from responsibility and accuses the victim as a cross-border smuggler or someone who tried attacking the BSF, when stopped for questioning. The AHRC and MASUM have been repeatedly contenting that such reports are farce and would do further damage to the morale of the BSF and of the people living along the Indo-Bangladesh border. The proof is the video.
It is a cruel joke, that the Raninagar police have claimed that they have not investigated the incident, as late as today, since they are yet to get a complaint regarding the event. Perhaps the West Bengal police have a new Criminal Procedure Code that requires them to receive a formal complaint to act upon a gruesome crime. Or is the response underlining the fact that the state police always shy away from taking any action against the BSF? The AHRC has been requesting the Government of West Bengal that it should seriously consider the fact that the rank and file of the state police stationed in areas where the BSF operates is suffering from a high degree of demoralisation.
When the video was aired yesterday through local television channels in West Bengal, the administration has taken 'action'. This is the suspension of eight BSF officers and the transferring of the District Magistrate (DM) and the Superintendent of Police (SP) of Murshidabad district. While the response is appreciated, the AHRC is of the opinion that this is not enough.
The official defensive statement by the BSF, that the video could be as old as 15 years, is nothing but irresponsibilit y in print. The security agency that is mandated to protect the country's border should have the minimum knowledge, that mobile telephones with a camera, now though common, was exceptionally rare 15 years ago. The BSF does not have a case that their officers exposed in the video are serving in the same outpost for the past 15 years. If the video is not of an incident that happened on 16 January, then on what reason was the officers stationed at Charmurasi border outpost suspended?
The video shows officers, identifiable in person, violating every code of their operative mandate, in some of the most brutal and inhuman manner. It shows the alarming wilt of discipline among the officers. Any agency, having such sick officers posted on duty has serious reasons to consider overhauling its operative structure to ensure basic discipline. In the BSF however, such actions are unlikely to happen. At the most the case would end, probably after a decade, with some punitive actions taken against the officers who are now placed under suspension.
The DM and the SP, of Murshidabad should have known that such incidents are common. They cannot content otherwise, since the MASUM and the AHRC together have sent these officers some 800 cases during the past eight years. These two officers have the legal responsibility to answer for what is in the video since had their office been diligent enough such incidents would not have repeated. In a case reported by the AHRC and MASUM on 19 October 2012, the victim in the case was stoned to death by the BSF. The incident happened within the jurisdiction of Raninagar Police Station. No action has been taken on this case so far. The details of the case are available at AHRC-UAC-210-2011.
The Inspector General (IG) of the BSF is also responsible for the incident since the IG's office is bound by 'command responsibility'. In the same vein, the Inspector-General commanding the South Bengal Frontier unit of the BSF and the Commandant and under whom the officers involved in the incident served are also to be punished. Command responsibility is no legal fiction. It is legal norm, which applies in this case without exception.
Most importantly the question that needs to be answered now is that what allows the BSF to perpetuate such horrendous forms of violence against unarmed civilians? Had the BSF been operating in compliance with the Border Security Force Act, 1968 and its Rules 1969, such incidents would not have happened. It shows that discipline and commitment to duty is not ensured within the rank and file in the force. Violence by the BSF against unarmed civilians and other forms of corruption and crimes committed by the BSF with impunity is a threat to the border security of the nation. Such a BSF is a threat to the entire country.
If experience were of any value, one need to see whether, at least in this occasion there would be a transparent investigation and adjudication. If national security is of any interest to the government, it should prove it by taking actions in all cases reported to the government, of crimes committed by the BSF. The AHRC is willing to once again submit to the Government of India a dossier containing details of the cases documented by the AHRC involving the BSF.
httpw.youtube.com/watch?v=9_kiJBGsoy8://ww
---------------
For information and comments contact:
Bijo Francis
Telephone: +852 - 26986339
Email: indiadesk@ahrc.asia, southasiadesk@a hrc.asia
Document Type :Statement
Document ID :AHRC-STM-014-201
MADERCHOD SALE HINDU INDIANS ITS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO GIVE PROTECTION NOT YOUR TORTURES BASTARD JAI HIND VANDE MATRAM MA CHOD PARIOTIC HINDU NATIONALISt HARAMI LADU ARJUN SANATRANI BRIGADES KISAN VISION
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_kiJBGsoy8
:angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :an
The end is refreshing after a sordid build-up with the family deciding to move on and earn a honest livelihood and exceling at it. The Hakeem's character is portrayed beautifully and one ends up being sympathetic to his antics if not to his cause. The mannerisms of a dispossesed Nawab are adequately captured by the actor. Atif Aslam sleepwalks through the movie and I wonder if the Hakeem should have been displayed as the main protagonist in the posters instead of the crooner, who I believe, should stick to his day job of singing.
Quoting masadi:
Masadi Baba,
What a road side-thuggish remark!!!
Do you even have any primary education?
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) took out a large rally at
=============================================================
the Minar-e-Pakistan ground in Lahore on Sunday.
More than 100,000 supporters gathered as a show of strength in what is traditionally the PML-N stronghold.
PTI chief Imran Khan warned politicians to declare their assets or his party would launch a civil disobedience movement against them.
Speaking on issues plaguing the country, Khan said that his party would stand with minorities and work for the rights of women.
He said PTI would also give the Baloch their rights and “not colonise them.”
End of live updates
7:20pm
The national anthem was played at the end of the ceremony.
7:10pm
“All politicians should declare their assets. PTI is forming a special cell to probe foreign assets owned by politicians.”
“We will go to the Supreme Court, we will for a independent Election Commission, if politicians do not declare their assets.”
“We will run a civil disobedience movement if they do not declare their assets.”
7:10pm
“We will stand with you not because I am shouting political slogans, but because it is my duty to stand with the weaker class.”
“PTI will stand with the minorities.”
“For the women of Pakistan, PTI is that party which will get you your rights. We will work on education for women,” says Khan
“When they get education they will stand for their rights.”
“My message to India on the presence of their army in Kashmir is that that a military solution has never helped solve anything,” says the PTI chief.
“I am going on a tour to China tonight on the invitation of the government of China. We will strengthen our ties with China.”
7:00pm
“We will give rights to the people of Balochistan. We will make them our brothers and not colonise them.”
“Tribal elders have pledged to ensure peace if the army withdraws from the tribal areas. They have said leave it to us, will end terrorism ourselves,” says Khan.
“PTI will ensure that Pakistan Army never launches an operation against its own citizens and that we never beg any country ever again.”
6:55pm
“We need to get rid of the patwari system,” says Khan.
“Pakistan’s assemblies are full of the kabza group. They support the patwari system because they get money from them.”
“PTI will make the police a non-political force.”
6:50pm
“Mian sahib jaan diyoo, sadee baree aan diyo.”
6:40pm
“Zardari wrote to the Americans, asked them to protect him from the Army, said that he will bring his own generals.”
“The biggest problem that Pakistan faces today is corruption. We are America’s slaves because of corruption,” says Khan.
“PTI will wipe out corruption. We will make a law that those who do not declare their assets will not be allowed to take part in politics.”
6:35pm
“Those in Raiwind and Islamabad should know that it is not a flood that is coming, but a tsunami.”
6:30pm
“Hum aaj eik nayee Pakistan ka aghaz ker rahay hain,” says Imran Khan.
“Today I greet all the rickshaw drivers , taxi drivers… civil servants who have secretly come here, policemen who are happy on the inside.”
6:25pm
Crowds cheer as Imran Khan approaches the podium.
PTI chief Imran Khan is now addressing the rally.
“We have worked hard and tried to bring change for 15 years,” says Imran Khan.
“Today Allah has listened to us.”
6:20pm
The national anthem is now being played at the rally.
6:15pm
Express 24/7 reports that conservative estimates put the crowd at 150,000.
Strings are now performing on stage.
ainaBaloch it looks more like a concert #PtiJalsa
UsamaKhilji Arif Alvi: PTI believes in equal rights for women, minorities, like the Prophet Muhammad PBUH did, under a welfare Islamic State. #PTIjalsa
6:10pm
Singer Shahzaman is now performing on stage.
Express 24/7 correspondent Rabia Mehmood reporting the rally is very organised despite the large number of people who have arrived.
5:55pm
PTI’s online supporters have started using the hash tag #OMP on Twitter to signify ‘Occupy Minar-e-Pakistan’.
Shehzad Roy is trending worldwide on Twitter.
5:45pm
Singer and social worker Shehzad Roy is performing on stage.
madeehai Yes we khan #PTIjalsa #PTI #Lahore #pakistan
PTI Secretary General Arif Alvi had earlier told AFP that Khan “will make important announcements regarding the country’s politics and future course of action.”
“The wind of change of has started in the country and anyone coming in its way would be eliminated,” Alvi said and added “Tehreek-e-Insaf wants the rule of people constitution and law in the country.”
“It is going to be historic. We have our supporters and voters coming from Lahore and its suburban areas and the expected gathering would be over 100,000 people,” Malik Zaheer Abbas Khokhar, a member of the party’s organising committee had said.
“We have been reassured by the provincial police chief about the security of the gathering and smooth flow of traffic for our convoys,” Khokhar had told AFP.
Senior police official Ghulam Mahmood Dogar told reporters that all steps had been taken to provide “fool-proof” security at the public meeting.
5:40pm
Express 24/7 correspondent Rabia Mehmood reports that the number of people at the venue has now crossed 100,000.
Roads from Minto Park upto the secretariat, railway station and Ravi bridge are blocked.
Supporters are still arriving at the venue.
Asad Kharal reports that PTI organisers are claiming that the PML-N government has shut down cable services in Lahore using police and other departments.
5:35pm
Asad Kharal reports that more than 50,000 people are inside the venue, and there are people present out in the streets.
Police and rescue service personnel are also present behind the stage.
5:25pm
PTI chief Imran Khan said his Maghrib prayers on stage.
5:20pm
Mian Azhar is addressing the rally.
“Change will come,” says the PTI leader.
5:15pm
PTI leaders have started addressing the rally.
Asad Kharal reports the barrier/grill around the venue has been broken.
5:10pm
Asad Kharal reports that the venue has been filled up to capacity and there are supporters standing outside. Families are still arriving at the venue with flags and posters.
All roads leading up to the venue are full of people on foot and in vehicles.
PTI supporters were seen ripping Hamza Shahbaz and Nawaz Sharif posters placed in high places near the venue.
4:50pm
Asad Kharal reports there is a massive traffic jam within a 2-3 kilometre radius of Minar-e-Pakistan.
Ambulances are also stuck in the jam and are finding it difficult to find a way out.
omarchughtai 150,000 there already. For every 1 there, there’s a thousand people getting ready to go.
Amnaa_tariq Imran Khan is using no Bullet Proof Glass
hammy86 Strings also present @ #PTIjalsa ”mein bhe dekho ga.. Tun bhe dekho gai”
4:30pm
OmarWaraich Lahore Special Branch say the venue at Minar-e-Pakistan is full #PTIjalsa
4:15pm
PTI chief Imran Khan has arrived and is on stage.
A massive crowd is seen waving party flags and cheering the arrival of Khan.
harisn Imran Khan is here! Just arrived backstage. #PTI #Pakistan #PTIJalsa #OMP
4:00pm
The Express Tribune correspondent Asad Kharal reports PTI officials have claimed that a major portion of the 45,000 seating arrangement at the rally has been covered.
Around 1,100 to 1,200 supporters have arrived from four constituencies of Nankana district.
PTI convener Sajjad Haider Randhawa led 700 to 800 people from the PP-170 Sangla constituency of the district. The supporters arrived in 25 vehicles – two big buses, eight cars and 15 coasters.
Muhammad Ishaq led a convoy of 13 vehicles carrying 250-300 people from PP-170 Shahkot.
No vehicles or people have arrived at the rally from PP-172 Nankana City, the constituency of sitting MPA of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Rai Shahnawaz Bhatti.
3:12pm
According to Express 24/7 correspondent Rabia Mehmood, thousands of students have shown up to support the PTI. A majority of the crowd is made up of young people.
Over 6,000 people have gathered so far, and many people are arriving by bus and by foot.
Dancing, cheering and slogan raising is the focus of the rally at this stage.
2:50pm
People from all over the country, from all age groups and backgrounds are arriving at the venue to attend Imran Khan’s rally.
The party chief is expected to make an ‘important announcement’ in today’s address.
Correspondent Rabia Mehmood describes a festive air at the ground:
Rabail26 Students from #KPK with #PTI flags in hands, dancing on a song in Pashto. Their headbands say ‘ISF Al-Jihad’. #PTIJalsa #Lahore
Aside from ground activity, the PTI is effectively using social media tools such as Twitter to build support for today’s rally, using the Twitter hashtag#PTIjals a.
The PTI are also broadcasting the rally live here.
2:15pm
Express 24/7 correspondent Rabia Mehmood says approximately 5-6,000 people have gathered around Minar-i-Pakistan for the PTI rally so far.
The organisers set 2pm as the official time for the rally to kick off.
Around 1,500 policemen including 50 Elite Force personnel are to be deployed at Minar-i-Pakistan. Thirty-two walkthrough gates monitored by CCTV cameras have been installed at the venue.
The protest area has been divided into four zones, with a superintendent of police given charge of a zone each.
The Insaf Student Federation (ISF), the student wing of Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), says it expects some 7,000 students from schools in the city to join its public meeting at Minar-i-Pakistan today.
Imran, whose party has been making significant inroads as a ‘street power’ but has yet to do well in elections, is being seen by observers as at least a ‘game changer’ in coming parliamentary polls, especially in Punjab’s urban areas.
Source:http://tribune.co
watch the movie free for cheapster and lazy not to bother about getting it
Just the family planning message alone is powerful.
Ras
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