ISLAMABAD: After thousands of participants of the ongoing protests in the capital city, stormed the Constitution Avenue on Tuesday night, most of them started facing a new set of problems.

The protesters could be seen everywhere on the important avenue. Thousands of them were lying on the greenbelts, while others were seen crowding the middle of the road chanting anti-government slogans.

As the venue shifted from Aabpara and Kashmir Highway to the Red Zone, the suffering of the marchers multiplied manifold; however, the morale of the participants was higher than ever as they believed to have achieved “half of their target” by reaching outside the Parliament.

Although most of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) workers went to other parts of the city, during the day, to rest before Imran Khan’s address in the evening, the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) activists stayed at the venue.

They have to travel at least one kilometre to reach the nearest market

Despite that, most of the PAT workers were seen dispersed through the avenue, while their PTI counterparts were clustered together.

The PAT workers reached Islamabad on August 15 and stayed at Khayaban-i-Suharwardy.

As that location was in front of Aabpara Market, the workers were able to get items of daily need from nearby stores. PAT women activists also went to nearby houses to change their dresses and use toilets.

Now, the nearest market is the civic centre, which is over a kilometre away from the new venue of the sit-in.

Even the food trucks that were bringing edibles for the PAT workers were being stopped at the barricades placed by the security forces.

“No doubt, our problems have multiplied as there are no markets, no mosques and no other facilities, but we are happy because we think we have achieved half of our goal by reaching here,” said Haji Mohammad Safdar, who came from Chakwal.

“At Aabpara, we had various options to buy eatables and we could rest in the verandas of the market. We are facing a lot of problems here, but they cannot stop us from bringing a revolution as promised by Dr Tahirul Qadri,” said Khadija Allah Rakha, who came from Lahore along with her parents.

Shahidul Qadri, who has been here since three days, said that he intends to stay here as long as it takes.

He mentioned that he slept under the open sky with others, either on the road or using scarves on metal sheets. “We look for shade under the trees, during the day,” he said.

Puffing on a traditional hookah, Manga Khan, an aged PAT activist from Lahore, said his party will not go back until the “revolution” is announced.

Ali Qadri came here on August 10, with more than 50 college fellows.

He said he was using a wireless USB dongle to connect to the internet and upload real-time pictures of the protest.

“We want a new system, a system which will give equal rights to all citizens. We want a government that looks out for the poor,” said eight-year-old Ahmed Ali Raza from Lahore.

PAT Media Coordinator Ghulam Ali told Dawn that despite the increase in the problems, workers are willing to stand firm with their leader.

“We have 40 mobile toilets, which have been shifted to the Constitution Avenue. The market is far, but our workers hardly go for shopping, so they do not care about the market and other facilities,” he said.

“Police have started closing the Red Zone entry points and is not allowing us to procure food for the workers,” he said, adding that he was sure that the workers will go hungry, if they have to, for the cause.

Published in Dawn, August 21st, 2014