JUI-F makes a good showing with a little help from PPP, PML-N.

Byline: Aamir Yasin and Kashif Abbasi

ISLAMABAD -- Though the PPP and PML-N leadership briefly showed up at the venue on Friday, the JUI-led Azadi march could still be seen as an impressive political gathering.

A visit to the venue by Dawn showed that thousands of people belonging to the JUI-F had spread out on roads, greenbelts, service roads and parking lot of the H-9 Sunday bazaar.

They have brought necessary luggage such as blankets and edible items with them which showed that they were well prepared to stage a sit-in in Islamabad for many days.

Mohammad Faraz, who came from Swabi, said the days of the PTI government are numbered as it came to power through a fraudulent election.

'We are here to take resignation from the prime minister,' he said amid chants of 'Go Niazi go' by other protesters.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Shahbaz Sharif briefly show up at the venue

Another protester, Liaquat Khan, said participants of the march were committed political workers whose spirit was very high.

'We are peaceful people, and religious minded, but we know how to deal with emergencies. Whenever our leaders allow us we will move towards D-Chowk after removing all barricades and containers,' he said.

The protesters have occupied both lanes of Kashmir Highway from Sunday bazaar while many of them were taking shelters in parked vehicles.

Many old residents of the city believed that the JUI-F's gathering is one of the most crowded ones.

Mohammad Aslam, of G-10, said before partition his father served in the Ministry of Finance in Delhi and then moved to Karachi before shifting of the capital to Islamabad in 1963.

'After moving to Islamabad, we settled in G-6. I am now 59 years old and we have seen a number of political gathering here. Without any doubt I would say the JUI-F show is amongst the biggest,' he said.

Another old resident, Mohammad Azam, said the capital city saw many public gatherings such as the one staged by PTI in 2014 at Jinnah Avenue and D-Chowk, a religious gathering during Gen Zia's regime against the then government's decision of Zakat deduction. 'The public gathering of JUI-F is also highly impressive,' he said.

A resident of G-9, M. Nasir, claimed that JUI-F's Azadi march was the...