LAHORE: The Karachi-Islamabad long march by the Tehrik Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) titled ‘Pakistan Bachao March’ reached Lahore late Wednesday night from Manga Mandi on its 17th day, which the party has been waging against the skyrocketing inflation, unemployment, lawlessness, exorbitant prices of petrol and power, and the growing number of incidents of blasphemy. Led by its ameer, Hafiz Saad Hussain Rizvi, the charged workers, raising slogans and riding trucks, cars, pick-ups, and motorcycles holding party flags and banners, entered Lahore from Thokar Niaz Beg and then reached the party head office on Multan Road, where they will stay for the day before leaving for Gujranwala on Thursday.
The participants in the march were given a rousing welcome at Thokar Niaz Baig with showers of flower petals and sloganeering, and large numbers of workers joined the march before it was brought to the party headquarters at Jamia Masjid Rahmatul lil Alamin, where a reception was given in their honour. Addressing the participants, Hafiz Saad Hussain Rizvi said that the time has come for dislodging the corrupt mafia that has been ruling the country for 76 years and depriving the poor masses of even the most basic needs of life. He said the TLP would give Kashmiris their freedom by ending their colonisation by the agents of the West. He expressed gratitude that during the TLP march not a single glass was broken or a leaf was plucked from Karachi to Lahore.
Criticising PM Shehbaz Sharif, he said the one who boasted of dragging Zardari on the streets of Larkana and Nawabshah has now joined hands with him. Calling the PDM government a collusion of 13 bands of thieves and robbers, he said they all wanted to only plunder more by coming to power; nobody cares about the country and the people. He criticised the fact that those power-hungry politicians pretended their sickness when in opposition or jailed. But it soon disappeared after coming to power, while TLP workers set examples of courage during jail captivity, as neither their platelets dropped nor they suffered from diabetes or any other disease. Hafiz Saad Rizvi said that those who used to say that TLP does not know about politics should ask their elders what kind of nerve we have and what our idea of politics is. We are not standing with anyone; we are with Pakistan and the people. Members of TLP Majlis Shoora Pir Syed Zaheer ul Hasan Shah, Qazi Mahmood Awan, Allama Ghulam Ghous Baghdadi, Mufti Ameer Al Azhri, Dr. Muhammad Shafiq Amini, Mufti Wazir Ahmed Rizvi, Allama Farooq-ul-Hasan Qadri, Sahibzada Anas Hussain Rizvi, leaders of Sindh and Punjab, and thousands of workers were also present.
