Fears of shoes at upcoming Musharraf rally

LONDON: The million-dollar question haunting Pakistani organisers is whether or not to allow the public wearing shoes into meeting hall during the upcoming rally of General (retd) Pervez Musharraf.
One simple but effective counter measure being considered is to put a large, almost invisible hanging net in front of the stage so that no shoe or missile hits the speaker and the protestor can also register his views
Until recently, all Pakistani politicians-whether living in exile, self-imposed exile or on a visit to the country, which hosts more than a million highly politicised Pakistanis - relished speaking to their adoring supporters or fellow political travellers.
But all that changed on August 7 this year when a Pakistani protester grabbed worldwide headlines as he threw his pair of shoes towards President Asif Ali Zardari while he was addressing a PPP rally at the Birmingham International Convention Centre (ICC). The incident embarrassed the president but led to charges being filed against the protester from nearby Coventry, Sardar Shamim Khan, who has also threatened to target visiting politicians.
High-profile political gathering of Pervez Musharraf has led to a swirl of speculations and rumours that Pakistani politicians may be an easy prey for Pakistanis who are highly agitated at their antics but who have no chance in a millennium to express their disgust and angst in Pakistan, where politicians are accorded with high-level of security and where violence can be perpetrated against the least-empowered protesters, both at the state and street level.
All Pakistani political parties in Britain agree that time has come now that the public rallies should be reserved only for the most diehard and known loyalists and that the general public should be kept at bay to prevent incidents of embarrassment.
They are not only making such events ‘invitation-only’, but relying on strong-muscle-men from their own ranks as well as from expensive private security firms to man the entrance gates and the VIP stage.
Yet the freedom that Britain affords to the public is unrivalled and indeed encourages democratic dissent. Agitators here know no physical harm or violence will be unleashed against them by party loyalists as, for doing this, assault charges can be brought against them by the police. It is the kind of freedom that has given birth to a new kind of militant or hardline rebellion. Widespread opposition to President Zardari’s visit was witnessed as he had abandoned his people at a time of floods of the biblical extent.
Musharraf, who operates from London after his exile from Pakistan, has a lot of opposition from various sides but he is ploughing on with his plans for the launch of his own party, All Pakistan Muslim League (APML).
Nawaz Sharif, when in London, prefers addressing a small gathering of the most loyal followers mostly at central London’s five-star hotels, only a few minutes away from his posh residence in Park Lane. After the Birmingham incident, neither the PML-N nor the PPP has any plans to hold any major political rallies starring their central leaders from Pakistan. As for the leaders themselves, they don’t trust their party cadres anymore. The only politician who recently managed to hold a trouble-free rally in Scotland is former cricket star Imran Khan.
For Musharraf’s rally in Birmingham, which is being fully supported by Labour MP Khalid Mahmood, a high-level security operation has been launched. Aslam Wassan, the Birmingham coordinator and organiser of the rally, told The News that the local police had been asked to help on the day of the rally.