JI congregation expected to draw 200,000 participants

Rs120m being spent on arrangements

AZAKHEL: The two-day general congregation of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa starting here tomorrow is expected to be participated by around 200,000 male and female participants as Rs120m amount is being spent on arrangements.

A much higher amount would be spent on the transportation of the participants and providing them food, water and other necessities. Similarly, every individual attending the congregation would have to make individual expenses on buying different things. Apart from those attending the congregation, thousands would be engaged in sale and purchase of different items.

A makeshift city has been beautifully set up at a spacious piece of land measuring about 200 acres at a private township owned by a senior JI member. Some 35,000 tents and curtains have been installed for holding the event and stay of the participants. The preparations, according to the in-charge of the congregation Sabir Hussain Awan, were started two months ago and hundreds of JI volunteers took active part on a daily basis in making the huge arrangements possible.

The land was levelled for the moot and in the process heavy machinery including four excavators, 10 tractor-trolleys and as many damper trucks were used. Around 1,000 toilets have been made for male participants and 300 for female participants at the venue of the congregations.

Fifty-six bores have been dug for water both for cleanliness and drinking purposes. Another 20 water tankers would be available for sprinkling water on the pathways and supplying potable water to the participants. Similarly, each camp for every district would have a tall of mineral water.

Proper arrangements have been made for providing food to the participants. Some 60 big canteens would be arranged for the male participants and 20 for female participants of the programme where food from Rs60 to Rs180 would be available.

For bread, some 30 tandoors would be set up at the venue for the congregation, while breads would also be brought from the nearby Pabbi and Nowshera cities.

Some 160 stalls of different items like books, clothes, handicrafts and other items would be set up at the main portion of the congregation and 40 at the women’s portion.

Proper arrangements have also been made for parking cars and other vehicles and for regulating the traffic some 600 trained volunteers of the party would be deployed.

Also, around 1000 volunteers would be providing security to the programme. The police and district administration have separate arrangements for ensuring peace.

A giant 3-D stage – the first of its kind in any political gathering in the country - has been set up at the main gathering place.

The women’s portion is completely separate from that of men. It has a proper boundary wall around it and two separate routes lead to it. Big light-emitting diode (LED) screens have been installed in the women’s portion on which the activities for the stage would be shown live. Similar LED screens would also be installed at different points in the vast gathering place of the congregation.

Billboards carrying large portraits of the JI leaders have been fixed on all the highways and prominent places across the province.

Participants from the remote districts of the province like Chitral, Hazara division, Dera Ismail Khan and the tribal areas would start arriving at the venue today. Delegates from foreign countries have already started arriving in the country to attend the moot.

Our correspondent in Nowshera adds: The provincial chief of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Mushtaq Ahmad Khan has said that several delegations from Muslim world including Afghanistan were expected to participate in the upcoming congregation at Azakhel.

Addressing a press conference at Azakhel on Thursday, the JI provincial chief said that at least 20 million people in the province were invited during the 50-Day invitation campaign by the party workers. He added that 23 leaders of the Islamic countries have also been invited to the JI congregation.

Mushtaq Ahmad Khan said the party workers achieved several milestones including meetings at 1008 union councils, and workers conventions at 3500 village councils in the meantime.