ISLAMABAD: Arshad Shah, a protester, feels trapped: Worn out after weeks of street demonstrations against the government, he wants to go home but protest organisers will not let him.
Like many protesters led by cleric Tahir ul-Qadri, Shah said organisers had taken away his national identification card to prevent him from leaving the protest site outside government offices in the centre of the Pakistani capital.
“Some (organisers) will make up excuses for why they can’t return our cards yet, others will say we can’t leave until the sit-in is over,” said Shah who joined rallies from the central Pakistani city of Sargodha. “I want our cards back so we can leave.”
Others said they were instructed to turn in their cards on a daily basis, get paid to spend the day at the rally and claim the card back at the end of the day. “I come in the morning and submit my CNIC (Computerised National Identity Card) to Qadri’s people who then give us our daily wages of 300-400 rupees ($3-$4). We then sit around all day,” said Niaz Ahmed, a labourer.
“After Qadri makes his speech in the evening, we get our cards back and off we go. The next day we come back. I’m making almost the same money sitting around here all day as I worked all day.”
Demonstrations erupted in Pakistan last month, with protest organisers saying their supporters will not leave until Prime Minister Nawaz resigns - a month-long standoff which has destabilised the South Asian nation.
Several attempts by Sharif’s aides to find a negotiated solution have failed, with protest organisers refusing to back down from their demand for his resignation. The confrontation briefly turned violent at the end of last month, with thousands trying to storm Sharif’s house.
But since then, the protests have dragged on listlessly, with weary protesters huddling inside their tents or sleeping on the grass verges of the capital’s grandest avenues.
Qadri’s camp categorically denied allegations that it was paying its activists or taking their identity cards away.
“Dr Qadri has openly allowed people to leave if they have to. He announced this in public as well,” said Shahid Mursaleen, a spokesman for Qadri’s party.
“I strongly reject this accusation. This is untrue and those who are saying this are probably not Dr Qadri’s protesters.”
At least three women protesters, all domestic workers, said they had been paid to come to rallies when they were first launched. REUTERS
