The Azadi March

August 19, 2014: It was a sensational night. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar gave a press conference on the eve of the grand Azadi March that a march into the Red Zone of Islamabad was a misadventure, was breaking the law and would be blocked by all means possible. While the marchers of the Azadi and Inqilaab March were standing ready in their respective pavilions at the Kashmir Highway and Khayaban-e-Suharwardy to march forth.  

The two crowds of marchers was so charged with energy, excitement and defiance that I could feel the charge all the way from the outskirts of the Red Zone into my TV room many sectors away. Just before the March, as Imran Khan and Tahir-ul-Qadri spoke to their respective crowds, the crowds listened in pin drop silence but their bodies were vibrating with the charge of their emotions. They were ready to do or die.

I had really wanted to go to the Azadi March. I had listened to Imran Khan the night before, giving his prep talk ahead of the grand March Day. He had been calling out to all factions of the society to join him the next day for the great Azadi March. He called out to the professionals, the students, the teachers, the doctors, the businessmen, the farmers, the civil servants, the ladies and to celebrities. ‘Where are you Junaid Jamshed?’ ‘Where are you Shahid Afridi?’ ‘Where are you Shahzad Roy…?’

As the speech ended, I rushed downstairs to call my husband in Lahore and beg him to please come and join the Azadi March, only to find my mobile buzzing with my husband’s incoming call. ‘Asalamo Alykum, yes?’ ‘I am on my way to join the Azadi March…’ ‘Yuhuuu!’ I danced around in uncontrolled excitement.

As my husband reached Islamabad by early morning and we followed the news to understand the changing dynamics and risks of the Azadi March, we became a little apprehensive. It seemed that the government would resist the March by brute force as it had now called in Army’s 111 Brigade. A friend whose husband was in the CDA informed that the Islamabad administration was stocking up ammunition. A news strip started running on the television screen that PIMS and Polyclinic, the two government hospitals, had been instructed to standby ready for emergency with two hundred beds ready each. Was the government moving in for the kill?

My husband and I looked at each other. We contemplated. There was no question about not joining the Azadi March, for this was not a political entertainment but our very own fight for our very own future. But, should both of us go or one of us should stay behind for the children? Al’Hamdo lillah, neither my husband nor me is afraid of death, but like all parents, we do not want to leave behind our children as orphans. So we decided that my husband will go and I will stay behind, as is the battalion formation in Islam, that is, men risk their lives before women do for the sake of children.

As things seemed pretty serious, my husband handed me over all his Debit cards, ATM cards, cheque books, car keys and important phone numbers. He set out his Azadi March backpack, complete with a defence scarf, water bottle and a torch. The March was scheduled for 6 pm but my husband and his friends left at 3 pm as the rumor was that the government was closing up roads and there was no way we were going to miss the Azadi March. They left amidst prayers.

I felt great remorse that I could not go, so I kept myself busy by following the news. As the evening set on, the excitement built up and I watched the swarming heads on television with great envy. I also watched Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar’s press conference with great distaste. He narrated unending ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ of the Azadi and Inqilaab March and gave a sermon about ‘respecting law’. Ha ha ha … ya sure sir! It is only unto the public to respect and obey law while the government is free to do as it pleases. The government can kill innocent civilians at Saneha Model Town, Lahore, and not blink an eye. The government ministers can impose inhuman taxes on the public while their sons can enjoy helicopter rides to the weekly Sasta bazaar to keep an eye on the prices of consumer goods?! The government officials are allowed to skip paying taxes but frown with all their wrinkled ferocity when Imran Khan gives the call of Civil Disobedience in protest of an alarming inflation, inhuman human rights and planned rigged elections.

Some people disagree with all these allegations and tut-tut at Imran Khan’s call for Civil Disobedience and consider him just another ‘show-biz’ politician. They laugh at our following of Imran Khan and Tahir-ul-Qadri and other such revolutionary leaders and consider us idiots as we risk our lives for their Marches.

Let me tell you one thing. As Muslims, we are only and only focused upon the call of Allah Almighty, His Prophet Pbuh, His religion and any person who calls to the way of Allah Almighty. We are living in times when the coming of Dajjal is just round the corner. Hadith also warns us that before the coming of the actual Dajjal, there would be numerous forerunners to Dajjal, who will appear and set the stage for his arrival and people’s acceptance of him. They will control resources, control people and control minds. They will be small impersonations of the real Dajjal. They will play God and make people their slaves.

As is Nature’s Law, every force has an equal and opposite reaction. If there would be forerunners to Dajjal, so would there be forerunners to Imam Mehdi. Who are they? What will they do? What will be their role? They will warn and condition the Muslims of the times to prepare and resist and practice fighting the Dajjalic forces. They will oppose human slavery to other humans and preach,

‘Only Thee we worship and only Thee we ask for help…’ [The Holy Quran, (1) Surah Al-Fateha, Verse 5]

I hear this to be Imran Khan’s motto and line of action. As he inspires us to say no to the dynasty rule, and as he dares to say no to America, so shall we absorb the faith and develop the bravery to say no to Dajjal as God.

I truly believe that bold and brave and pro-Islam leaders like Imran Khan are forerunners to Imam Mehdi, preparing us for the coming of Imam Mehdi and the action to be taken at that time.

It will not happen so that as is the state of Muslims in general today, that we would be living neck deep in fun and frolic and air-conditioned luxury, and suddenly when the appearance of Imam Mehdi is announced, we will develop the stamina to face, fight and march to war against Dajjal all the way from Khurasan to Hijaz to join Imam Mehdi.

So when we join Imran Khan’s blockade protest on the NATO supply-line en route Peshawar and when we join Imran Khan’s anti-Drone March to Waziristan and when we join Imran Khan’s historic Azadi March to Azadi Square, we are not simply being the Captain’s cricket fans but there is a serious ideology behind it.

The Marches are preparing us for the ultimate March to Makkah one day to join Imam Mehdi and fight against Dajjal. The Marches are putting us in practice for the ultimate March to Jerusalem one day to join the reappearance of Prophet Isa AS and fight against Dajjal. This was not just a stand-alone Azadi March for us. The Azadi March is part of the greater Azadi March of the future for the freedom of Muslims from Dajjal and all Dajjalic chains around us today ...