``This is the beginning,'' said Liaquat Baluch, a leader of Jamaat-e-Islami, the right-wing religious party organising the three-day rally that ends on Sunday.

``The message is that we will go in to the streets, to the villages, the countryside, the remote areas of the country and awaken the people, '' he said ``and bring a new Islamic order to Pakistan''.

Jamaat's show of strength is an impressive one with hundreds of brightly coloured tents encasing the tree-lined boulevards of the federal capital.

Green Jamaat-e-Islami flags emblazoned cars and buses and giant banners urging the faithful to fight for their religion were strung across the streets.

Throughout the day, scores of buses streamed into the capital crammed with people,many of them hanging from the open windows and crowded onto the roof.

Hundreds of young boys with headbands with the inscription `God is Great' patrolled the area waving bamboo sticks to keep order among the crowd.

``We need an Islamic revolution in Pakistan... That is the only way,'' said Mohammed Uzari, stroking his wispy black beard. ``But it will be peaceful. The government will go.''

Behind him in the crowd some young men yelled: ``If the government doesn't go peacefully we will force them to go.''

The last time Jamaat-e-Islami tried to hold its rally in the capital, the government then led by Benazir Bhutto, resisted. She deployed hundreds of police and ordered them to stop demonstrators at the city limits. Three people were killed.

This time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's government lent a helping hand, deploying hundreds of traffic police and cooperating with Jamaat-e-Islami organisers.

``They should see how we cooperated and held a peaceful rally,'' said Sheikh Rashid, a member of Sharif'scabinet. ``We don't want any trouble.''