ISLAMABAD: One of the leading religio-political parties in the country, Jamiat-e-Ulama-e-Islam (JUI-F) said Thursday it would begin its anti-government movement on October 27 after staging protest demonstrations across Pakistan to express solidarity with the people of Indian-administered Kashmir.
“The incumbent government is a product of fake elections and fake results,” JUI-F Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman claimed while addressing a news conference in Islamabad along with his senior party members.
He added that all opposition parties had rejected the results of last year’s general elections and called for fresh polls.
“We will send this government packing [by launching our movement],” Rehman said.
The announcement was made after the party’s Central Executive Committee meeting to discuss if it should delay the protest march against the government for a month, as suggested by the leadership of two other opposition parties, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
The opposition factions had unanimously agreed to protest against the government from a single platform while attending an all-parties conference in June this year.
“This will be an Azadi [freedom] march,” Rehman told the media. “People in caravans from all over the country will join us, as we begin our journey to Islamabad.”
The JUI-F party has a large network of religious seminaries across the country and its students constitute its power base.
Rehman has been holding public rallies across the country since last year to mobilize his voters and galvanize other segments of society to bring down the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government.
“We will gather at D-Chowk [in front of the Parliament House],” he said. “We are not ones to disperse easily.”
JUI-F to launch anti-government protest on October 27
JUI-F to launch anti-government protest on October 27
- Says all opposition factions rejected last year’s general elections, demanded new polls
- Promises to send the government packing by launching its movement
Pakistan’s Mahnoor Omer named among TIME’s ‘Women of the Year’ for 2026
- Omer moved a Pakistani court against the so-called ‘period tax’ in Sept. 2025 which has since sparked a national debate
- Taxes on sanitary pads in Pakistan can add up to 40 percent to retail price, UNICEF says only around 12 percent women use such products
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani women’s rights activist Mahnoor Omer, who fought against taxes on menstrual products, has been named among the TIME magazine’s ‘Women of the Year’ for 2026.
Omer’s efforts have been recognized alongside 16 activists, artists, athletes and businesswomen in the TIME’s Women of the Year 2026 list, including Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Chloe Zhao.
Dissatisfied with the efforts to educate Pakistani girls about sexual violence, Omer founded the Noor Foundation at the age of 14 and held her own workshops with village girls about everything from climate change to menstruation, according to the TIME magazine.
Two years later, a conversation with a domestic worker about the price of pads made her realize that not everyone could afford these essentials. She moved a court against the so-called “period tax” in Sept. 2025 and the case has sparked a national debate on the subject, considered a taboo by many in Pakistan, since its first hearing late last year.
“A decade and one law degree after her interest in activism was sparked, Omer, now 25, is putting her passion and expertise to work in the name of gender equity,” TIME wrote about Omer on its website.
Taxes imposed on sanitary products in Pakistan can add up to 40 percent to the retail price. UNICEF estimates just 12 percent of women in the country use commercially produced pads or tampons. The alternative, using cloth, risks health impacts including rashes and infections, and can make it impossible for girls to attend school while menstruating.
Omer’s suit, which awaits the government response, has sparked a national discussion. She says she spoke about menstruation to her father and male cousins, who thanked her for standing up for their daughters.
The 25-year-old, who is currently enrolled in a master’s degree in gender, peace, and security at the London School of Economics, sees this case as just the first of many.
“I’m not free until every woman is free,” she was quoted as saying by TIME. “I want to leave no stones unturned in terms of what I can do with the next few decades, as a lawyer for the women in my country and gender minorities in general.”
