<\/p>\n
Was the reception at Minar-i-Pakistan as big as the PML-N would like you to believe? Depends on who you ask.<\/p>\n
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who was deposed from the post the last time he held it, arrived in Pakistan on Saturday after four years in self-exile.<\/p>\n
The PML-N supremo touched down at Islamabad airport earlier in the day, where he completed his legal formalities<\/a>, after which he departed for Lahore to address a gathering for his welcome at Minar-i-Pakistan.<\/p>\n The former premier\u2019s return to Pakistan has been long-awaited by the PML-N, who see him as the answer to their waning popularity, but not everyone is as ecstatic if reactions from Pakistanis on X [formerly Twitter] are anything to go by.<\/p>\n Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam \u2014 Fazl chief Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman warmly welcomed Nawaz back to the country. He wrote: \u201cNo coercion can prevent a patriot from coming to his country for a long time.<\/p>\n \u201cI heartily welcome Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif back to my homeland.\u201d<\/p>\n Former interior minister and PML-N secretary general, Ahsan Iqbal, shared a document from 2014, highlighting Pakistan\u2019s goals and and vision to achieve by 2025. He hoped for Pakistan to rise again [with Nawaz\u2019s return].<\/p>\n Veteran cricketer Umar Akmal too wished Nawaz a very warm welcome and shared his optimism on the return of a very \u201cloyal and real leader\u201d.<\/p>\n Television presenter and journalist Iqrar-Ul-Hassan Syed shared a video of Ring Road Lahore, which leads to Minar-i-Pakistan. The video shows a high volume of traffic, which he said were heading towards the rally. He added that PML-N could have changed the perception of its [lost] popularity just by capturing drone footage of the traffic.<\/p>\n \u201cThe rally will be historic!\u201d he remarked.<\/p>\n Journalist Muqadas Farooq Awan did not, however, agree with Syed\u2019s sentiment. \u201cAsk anyone at the rally how they were brought here,\u201d said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen supporters show up without promises of biryani or money is when it really counts.\u201d<\/p>\n Former FBR chairman Syed Shabbar Zaidi too echoed her thoughts. \u201cI was on the stage at Minar Pakistan in April 1986 when Benazir returned. The crowd from airport to Minar Pakistan, totally without government [SIC] support was huge. This crowd is not even 25 per cent [SIC],\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n Barrister and Supreme Court advocate Gohar Khan, who represents Imran Khan in a number of cases, was of a similar view. He claimed that the PML-N tried to adopt the way the PTI conducts its public gatherings and rallies, but \u201cdespite full backing of state resources\u201d, there was no enthusiasm in the people and the crowds were not as large as the PML-N claimed. He termed the rally a \u201cfailed jalsa<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n PTI leader and former speaker of the National Assembly, Asad Qaiser, too accused Nawaz of trying to create a false perception of popularity by using the media and state machinery.<\/p>\n Many others pointed towards irony, deja-vu and a suspicious cycle apparent in politics.<\/p>\n Mehreen Zahra Malik, journalist and Pakistan editor for Arab News<\/em> wrote: \u201cYesterday it was Imran Khan pulling huge crowds at grand rallies. Now it\u2019s Nawaz. History repeats itself in Pakistan \u2014 always as farce.\u201d<\/p>\n Lawyer Uzair Younus pointed to the Sharifs\u2019 survival in politics saying, \u201cIf there\u2019s one constant in modern Pakistani politics it is this: never, ever count out the House of Sharif.\u201d<\/p>\nHomecoming<\/h2>\n
The size of the rally<\/h2>\n
The circle of Pakistani politics<\/h2>\n