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The Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) ‘Azadi March’, led by the faction’s chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, set out on Sunday afternoon from Karachi’s Sohrab Goth area towards Islamabad.
Thousands of people, including seminary students, are participating in the march. In addition, convoys of political parties, including the PPP, the PML-N, the Awami National Party (ANP) and others, joined the march.
Besides JUI-F leadership, PPP leaders Raza Rabbani, Saeed Ghani, PML-N leaders Mohammad Zubair, Nihal Hashmi, ANP’s Shahi Syed and others, are onboard the leading container.
Addressing the participants of the march, Maulana Fazlur Rehman said, “We had promised to our Kashmiri brethren that we will observe a day to express solidarity with them.”
“The entire nation is on the same page on the issue of Kashmir,” he said, adding that there has been a curfew in Kashmir for the past three months. He demanded the international community take notice of human rights violations in occupied Kashmir.
Talking about the domestic political scenario, the JUI-F chief said that the opposition had denied all demands of the negotiation team sent by the government and will hold their sit-in as per the decisions made by the judiciary.
“Prime Minister Imran Khan will have to resign. Hundreds of thousands have gathered in Karachi; what will the government do when people from across the country reach Islamabad?” he asked.
The JUI-F chief questioned the forces who had brought Moin Qureshi [a green card holder] from abroad in 1993 to appoint him as caretaker prime minister for three months. “Our citizenship [on the other hand] is questioned; they declare us Pashtun and Afghani,” he said.
Rehman’s remarks come in the backdrop of Pemra’s directive, a day earlier, asking all TV channels to refrain from inviting JUI-F’s Hafiz Hamdullah, saying that he is a “confirmed alien”.
The JUI-F chief said that the opposition doesn’t believe in such “flawed laws”. He said what that the opposition does believe in is democracy and the Constitution and wants the sovereignty of the country.
“I will announce the future course of action in Islamabad,” he said.
“We support positive politics. We have spent our entire life in loyalty to the country’s Constitution and we have faced extremism (in return),” he said, adding that the government will have to answer for the tactics it has been employing against the opposition.
He thanked the political leaders participating in the march.
The next stopover of the march will be Jamshoro. The march is scheduled to reach Islamabad via Sukkur and various districts of Punjab.
Meanwhile thousands of supporters of opposition parties left Quetta to participate in the march. JUI-F Balochistan chief Maulana Abdul Wasey led the caravan. The march started from Kuchlak area of Quetta.
“We will continue our struggle till removal of present rulers,” Maulana Wasey told reporters before leaving for Islamabad.
“Our sit-in will continue in Islamabad till resignation of the prime minister,” PPP leader Ali Madad Jattak said.
The participants of the march would pass through Loralai and Dera Ghazi Khan in Punjab and then reach Islamabad to join the anti-government protest.
Govt, opposition deal
Earlier on Saturday, the government and opposition inked a deal whereby the terms and conditions of the anti-government ‘Azadi March’ were chalked out.
In a press conference, the head of the government’s negotiation committee, Defence Minister Pervez Khattak reiterated Prime Minister Imran Khan’s promise that the participants will “see no obstacles” from the government as long as the protest is peaceful.
According to the agreement, the government will not stand in the protesters’ way and “neither will the participants face any difficulty in getting food delivered”.
The participants will not be allowed to venture far from the designated venue. Another condition is that the responsibility of the internal security will lie with the organisers.
JUI-F leader Akram Durrani had announced earlier that day that the participants of the march “will not enter the Red Zone” of Islamabad.
Durrani had said the protest march will “not be prolonged”. “We will make further decisions as and when appropriate.”
He had reiterated the party’s demands, namely, the prime minister’s resignation, fresh elections, no interference from the military, and the protection of clauses pertaining to Islam within the Constitution.
He had also called for NAB to release all political prisoners.