People suffer as Ring Road remains blocked ahead of PDM rally

PESHAWAR: The Ring Road near Charsadda Road, the venue for Pakistan Democratic Movement’s public rally, remained blocked on Saturday afternoon causing inconvenience to the commuters and motorists.

The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) is holding a public meeting near the Dilazak Chowk today. The motorists and passengers reaching Peshawar from northern parts of the province or those travelling to Islamabad or the northern districts remained stranded for hours on the busy Ring Road. The passengers came down hard on both the organisers of the rally and the government for causing inconvenience to the people.

“The government must solve issues through talks. And the organisers should have made the arrangements at night if the holding of a rally is so important,” said Muhammad Kashif, one of the stranded passengers. He argued that Peshawar was a small city with few roads where life came to standstill with such activities. Another passenger, Muhammad Fayyaz, who was travelling to Takhtbhai, said it was a shame that provincial capital Peshawar had no space to hold such public rallies. “The police should have blocked the road at the entrance when they came to know that it is being blocked by the rally organisers,” he added.

Alam Khan, an elderly man travelling in a passenger van, said that these people held rallies at public spaces to attract passers-by to their events. “The televisions would show thousands of people attending the rally but nobody would know that the majority of these attendees were the residents of the area and visit the venue just for enjoyment,” he argued. A vendor selling peanuts said that they were holding the rally on the road that would make the roads blocked for the entire day. “The poor vendors have to bear the brunt of such rallies,” he said, adding, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leaders were also holding such rallies. “They are now in power but the poor people are suffering,” he added. Meanwhile, all arrangements, including lighting, for the PDM rally had been made at the venue where television channels crews were present along with a huge deployment of police.