Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s long march to Islamabad has started from the Liberty Chowk in Lahore. Party supporterss made a beeline for the venue, starting aroudn 11am, the time at which Imran Khan was supposed to get it underway with a speech.

The crowd started to swell by the time Imran Khan arrived, a little before 4pm, which also marked the beginning of the formal march.

As expected, conflicting claims emerged about the numbers at the venue - from the PTI and its opponents. These claims were accompanied by visuals and images as the two groups exchanged barbs over inflating numbers or downplaying them.

PTI leader Hamad Azhar shared a video taken from Imran Khan’s container at Liberty Chowk. This video was made when Imran Khan was giving a speech.

It can be seen in the video that the square is almost full and there are people almost everywhere. However, the video also shows fewer people towards the rear.

Liberty Square is a vast space and according to crowd estimation software, it can hold 28,000 people at full capacity. If the people are asked to stand a little apart, the same area would appear choc-a-bloc even with a mere four thousand individuals.

From the video, the Liberty Chowk doesn’t appear overly crowded. People were not spilling on to the side streets. Nonetheless, there were enough people for the area to appear full.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leadership was at the other end of the spectrum with its approximation. One of their leaders claimed that there were only 200 people at Liberty Chowk.

A social media user shared a video of the moment Asad Umar arrived at the square atop a container in response to Hammad Azhar’s tweet. The user urges Azhar to be honest about the numbers, saying they are there as well.