March for justice and for honour —->Fastrising blog

We just had a long chat with Mr. Warraich, one of the young lawyers marching from Lahore to Islamabad. The basic updates have been provided in our section on the the march, but this seemed like a good opportunity to share some of the details provided. They are a party of eight – six lawyers and two members of civil society. 

Filling us in on their journey since Saturday when we last communicated, Waqas said that they were in Gujrat on Sunday and in Kharian on Monday. After the reception at the Kharian Bar Association, they left for Jhelum, where they arrived this evening.

He said that he found it hard to believe that he had walked all this way on foot, but that it was true that their tiredness evaporated when they saw the receptions they got everywhere they go. Bar associations all along the way have received them in large numbers and given the distinctive attire of the marchers, the attention of large, well-organised groups such as the Bar Associations and the high volume of traffic all along the GT Road, they’ve repeatedly been received by crowds of more than a thousand – ordinary folk, curious, admiring, enthusiastic, inspired. People shower them with kindness, offering water, tea and food, while reporters from the print and electronic media cover their progress (which, this scribe notes, means that editors of media outlets do not deem this story interesting or important enough – an interesting case for students of the interaction between private profit and public interest).

When asked how the travellers were faring, Waqas informed us that one of their fellows had fallen quite ill the previous night but was now recovering. Apart from that, they all had sores on their feet, but had also become habituated to that pain.

Tomorrow morning, after attending the reception organised by the Jhelum Bar Association, they will head out once more, hoping to reach Gujjar Khan by evening, via Dina and Sohawa. They hope to reach Islamabad by Thursday evening and plan to meet the Chief Justice at his official residence on Friday morning.

The last time people voluntarily, spontaneously offered immense sacrifices for the sake of a national symbol of resistance was for ZA Bhutto. The establishment still has to deal with his ghost – despite all the evident, even self-confessed, flaws of his character.

It seems that what inspires the nation is sheer guts – to endure, to sacrifice, to resist. One wonders if the pygmies currently in power could possibly understand that language.