The 2014 Tsunami March (), also called the Azadi movement, was a protest march in Pakistan from 14 August to 17 December 2014. The march was organized by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) against the Pakistani government of Nawaz Sharif. PTI claimed systematic election-rigging in the 2013 general election, and PAT demanded justice for the culprits in the 2014 Lahore clash. Then PTI chairman Imran Khan had announced plans for an August march from Lahore to Islamabad with a group of protesters in a PTI jalsa (demonstration) in Bahawalpur on 27 June 2014. On 17 December, a day after the 2014 Peshawar school massacre, Khan called off the protest.
Background
Following allegations of massive vote-rigging in the 2013 general election, cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) tentatively accepted the election results and demanded a probe of election fraud in four constituencies as a litmus test for the rest of the election. Government inaction led the PTI to organize several jalsas throughout Punjab, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's political stronghold.
In August 2014, Khan said that for 14 months the PTI had tried to bring those responsible for the fraud to justice by legal means. Although the party produced a 2,100-page white paper with evidence of vote-rigging, no action was taken by the government. According to Khan, in any democracy its supreme court would have nullified the results and called for a new election. After former Election Commission of Pakistan additional secretary Afzal Khan also alleged fraud, the Supreme Court also took no action. The court required evidence to nullify the election and, without proof beyond Afzal Khan's allegations (which were eventually ruled incorrect), the petition was dismissed.
During the jalsas, Khan expressed disappointment at the lack of initiative by the country's judicial system and the treatment by the election commission of his charges. On 22 April 2014, the PTI announced the start of their anti-corruption movement.
Organization Khan had initially named his planned protest march the "Tsunami march", but he later changed its name to "Azadi march" (or "Freedom march") because its start date—14 August—coincided with Pakistan's 67th Independence Day. The PTI chairman called the march the final phase and defining moment of his party's protest of electoral rigging of the 2013 elections. He announced his plan to march with a million other protesters to the nation's capital in Islamabad to protest prime minister Nawaz Sharif's illegitimate government, prompting analysts to call the protest the "Million March". Khan assured the government that the march, culminating in a sit-in, would be peaceful.
After Khan announced his plans, Islamic cleric Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri's Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) party also announced a similar march. The PAT named their march "Inqilab march" to avoid confusion with the PTI protest, and it was speculated that the marches might merge. Although Qadri initially refused to join Khan's protest and considered changing the date and venue of his march, he later announced that his march would proceed on the same day. The announcement of the informal alliance and parallel marches increased pressure on the PML-N government to restrict the parties.
The protest caravan, numbering thousands, marched towards Islamabad along the Grand Trunk Road. Although Khan had warned the federal and Punjab governments to ensure the safety of the cavalcade, when PML-N workers threw stones at the caravan in Gujranwala and guns were allegedly fired PTI leaders expressed concern that PML-N workers were aided by the Punjab police.
The march began at Zaman Park in Lahore on 14 August 2014, reaching Aabpara Chowk and D-Chowk in Islamabad. The protests quickly turned violent quickly, and Khan and Tahir-ul-Qadri marched towards Parliament House and local news-channel offices late on 30 August. Geo alleged that the prostesters attacked their media outlet. It became apparent that the government used excessive force against the media, especially ARY News, Samaa TV, Express News, and Dunya News (known to be sympathetic to the opposition). Clashes led to violence by law-enforcement authorities. Violent clashes erupted in other cities, with as many as 13 protesters dead at the hands of police and several police officers injured.
The army issued a statement calling for restraint by the police. Four senior police officers (three men and one woman) resigned from the Islamabad and Punjab police, alleging police brutality. The protesters neared the prime minister's residence, and pressure mounted on Sharif when the police (especially in Islamabad) seemed to openly defy the government order.
On 17 December, Khan announced the cancellation of the protest in response to the Peshawar school attack: "Due to the situation in the country right now, we have decided to end our protests, decision had been made in light of the terrorist attack on a school in Peshawar ... the country need[s] national unity".
Rallies On 11 May 2014, a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf protest rally was planned in D-Chowk. In Faisalabad, Khan questioned Sharif's victory speech and announced a jalsa in Sialkot. In Sialkot, Khan criticised the judiciary's role in the election. On 27 June, a rally was held at Bahawalpur Stadium. Khan announced plans for the Azadi march, calling it the final phase of his protest against electoral fraud in the 2013 general election. He gave government a one-month dispensation (because of Ramadan) before opening an investigation of four constituencies, marked by his four jalsas.
PTI–PAT coalition As expected, Khan and Qadri neither merged their protest marches nor disavowed each other. On 10 August, Qadri announced that the Inqilab March (his party's separate march) would proceed in parallel with the PTI's Azadi march. Although the marches were organised on different routes, mirroring each other, it became apparent that the parties had similar objectives but different strategies.
The announcement of parallel marches by opposition parties gave rise to speculation about a possible PTI-PAT coalition. The party never clearly stipulated a formal coalition, but an informal agreement to support each other was reached. On 11 August, Qadri and Khan told the media that there would be two informally-allied marches supporting the dismissal of the Sharif government.
Demands Khan and the PTI had consistently asked the government to appoint tribunals and committees to investigate electoral fraud in four constituencies after the 2013 election. In making the demand, he reluctantly accepted the election results despite consistent ridicule by the PML-N government and its ministers.
A year later, the government had made no headway and remained "hesitant in investigating the alleged rigging". On the other hand, Khan had consistently presented proof of electoral fraud in a number of constituencies. The PTI chairman accused caretaker Punjab chief minister Najam Sethi and former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry of facilitating fraud on behalf of the PML-N in the election.
Because of the government's lack of initiative in investigating allegations of electoral fraud, Khan gave it one month to meet his demand; according to the chairman, he had "knocked [on] every door to find justice" in vain. At the PTI's Bahawalpur jalsa, Khan warned that if the government was inactive a million of his followers would march on Parliament. His primary four demands included investigation of how Sharif declared victory prior to the official results; the role of former Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary in the election; the roles played by the caretaker government particularly Najam Sethi; and electoral fraud in 90 constituencies.
Over the next month, Khan's demand became more generalised and included the following: a transparent investigation into allegations of electoral fraud in the 2013 elections; judicial inquiries into the roles of persons named in electoral fraud, and reformation of the electoral process (for example, the introduction of electronic voting machines) and the Election Commission. After Khan presented his demands, the government further ridiculed him. This forced him to present the following ultimate demands: the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his brother, Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif; the replacement of the Sharif government by a caretaker government, and a call for snap elections after the establishment of a caretaker government.
March Although the Azadi march was due to begin at Khan's residence at Zaman Park in Lahore at on 14 August, it was delayed until when the PTI chairman addressed the crowds outside his house. Moments later, the rally began marching towards Islamabad. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak left with a convoy of supporters from Peshawar for Islamabad. At Khattak's convoy joined PTI cavalcades from Charsadda, Swabi and Nowshera on the motorway to Islamabad, reaching the provincial interchange at Attock at and reaching Islamabad at .
Khan's rally inched its way through the city of Lahore at a snail's pace via the Mall Road, Faisal Chowk, Data Darbar, Bhatti Chowk, Azadi Chowk and Minar-e-Pakistan, Niazi Chowk, Ravi Bridge and Shahdrah, reaching the Grand Trunk Road leading to Islamabad. The delay resulted after the milestone destinations of Data Darbar, Bhatti Chowk, Azadi Chowk and Niazi Chowk were included in the rally route at a later time, after the march had begun.
The rally reached its destination in Lahore at Shahdaran at about on 15 August, where the PTI chief addressed supporters at about . The procession took more than half a day to leave Lahore, and the PAT's parallel protest march had reached Gujranwala by then. At , the Inqilab march headed to Wazirabad and reached Kharian in Gujrat District at ; the PTI rally reached Gujranwala at . At about , PTI activists were pelted with stones by PML-N workers as they passed an area with a PML-N party office. The PTI convoy was on its way out of Gujranwala at the Sheranwala Bridge, and at least 4 PTI activists were injured. The ensuing riot was controlled by local police, and no PML-N worker was injured or arrested. The opposition Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan (JI) condemned the PML-N workers identified in footage of the clash, and PML-Q leaders Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi held Prime Minister Sharif and Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif responsible for the attack on the PTI cavalcade. The PTI convoy was again pelted with stones by PML-N workers at the Pindi bypass outside Gujranwala. The party posted pictures on Twitter of PML-N workers standing on a police van and throwing stones, alleging that the Gujranwala police were aware of the government workers' malicious intent. PML-N workers were prepared at the Rahwali Cantonment to intercept and pelt the PTI convoy, while PPP leader Qamar Zaman Kaira expressed concern that PML-N workers might attack the convoy if it proceeded through Ghakhar Mandi. About 2 kilometers outside Ghakhar Mandi, at , police with Khan's convoy asked him to leave his "Azadi bus" and ride in a faster, bullet-proof Toyota Land Cruiser. PAT chief Qadri also advised Khan to avoid known PML-N strongholds.