MINISTER for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz believes the masses have rejected the narrative of the 11-party alliance of the opposition – Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) – by not attending its public meetings, adding that the opposition parties had acted irresponsibly and displayed immaturity by holding a public gathering in Multan. He said government had tried its best to get their public meeting postponed, but they held the rally in total disregard for the anti-Covid standard operating procedures and jeopardized the people’s lives.
The Minister has a point as far as his views about spread of Covid-19 are concerned as, according to latest reports, the positivity rate has climbed to 8.5%, forcing the authorities to impose smart lockdown in hundreds of the localities across the country. PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has also contracted the virus and as a result he could not make it to the Multan rally whereas according to claims of KP Government, the instance of virus has increased significantly after Peshawar rally of the opposition. However, there is an overwhelming impression that the tactics used by the Administration to get the rally postponed had political connotations as these provoked the opposition further, strengthening its resolve to hold the rally against all odds and thereby damaged the noble cause of checking the spread of the disease. The number of participants in Multan rally might not be so impressive but going by the fact that the provincial government used its entire machinery to create hurdles including hundreds of arrests, erection of barriers on roads, wetting of the original venue and use of force to evict people from the Stadium, the opposition can rightly claim success of its plan. The administrative measures used to thwart the rally turned the entire Multan city into a virtual battle ground, there was worst kind of traffic mess and all activities including working of the government and the private offices came to a standstill, which helped project the cause of the opposition. The strategy used by the Government made the opposition leaders more aggressive and they used harsh language during their address to the public meeting. Given the ground situation, it would not be advisable for the Government to ignore the challenge being thrown by the opposition, which can be addressed by a two-pronged strategy of initiating contacts (for talks) and avoiding measures that make life of the people miserable as the government did on the same day by increasing the price of high speed diesel by rupee four a litre.
