LAHORE: A senior leader of Jamiat-e-Ulama-e-Islam (JUI-F) party said on Tuesday the anti-government “Azadi March” would proceed as scheduled, adding that all opposition factions, including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), would join the movement.
“The PML-N supreme leader, Nawaz Sharif, has promised that his party will be in the forefront of the march to rid the country of its inefficient government,” Hafiz Hamdullah Saboor told Arab News.
“We also enjoy the support of other opposition groups, including the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Awami National Party (ANP),” he added. “No matter what, we are prepared to hit the road.”
A PML-N delegation, comprising senior party leaders, including Ahsan Iqbal, Marriyum Aurangzeb and Amir Muqam, met the JUI-F chief, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, in Peshawar on Sunday and shared with him the contents of Nawaz Sharif’s letter to the PML-N president, Shehbaz Sharif, narrating the details of the anti-government protest plan.
“A delegation of the PML-N visited Maulana Fazlur Rehman and conveyed the proposals of its party for the march. Our party will discuss those proposals in the central executive committee meeting and give our response to the PML-N on October 24,” JUI-F spokesman, Dr. Ghazanfar Aziz, told Arab News on Monday.
However, a press release issued by the JUI-F deputy secretary information, Saleemullah Qadri, said that a meeting between Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Shehbaz Sharif would be held much before that on October 18.
“The two leaders will meet in Lahore on October 18 to discuss the Azadi March. Maulana Fazlur Rehman will apprise Shehbaz Sharif on his meetings with the ANP and other political parties,” read the handout issued on Tuesday.
The JUI-F has so far claimed it is getting a positive response from different segments of society. Members of doctors’ association from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and traders’ association from different parts of Pakistan have visited the JUI-F leader and promised support, the party maintains.
The PPP, which is the second largest opposition party in the National Assembly, has also endorsed the movement and announced to participate in it.
“We fully support the Azadi March and will join it from all over the country. Our workers will be joining members of other opposition parties. Our leaders will also stand with Maulana Fazlur Rehman whenever and wherever he calls us,” PPP leader, Qamar Zaman Kaira, told Arab News on Tuesday.
The Punjab government has not yet finalized the strategy to deal with Azadi March.
“It is not clear yet what the protesters want or plan. Some say they will march from Sukkar to Islamabad, passing through the Punjab province, while other believe they will enter Islamabad from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” said Punjab law minister Raja Basharat.
“The Punjab government is keeping a vigilant eye on the situation and will prepare a counter plan when required,” he added. “No one will be allowed to disturb the law and order in the province.”
On Monday, PML-N leaders met at the residence of its president, Shehbaz Sharif, to discuss the latest situation and develop the party’s strategy for the march.
“It has been decided that the PML-N will participate in the march. The decision regarding the sit-in has not been taken since it was not on the agenda,” Senator Abdul Qayyum said while taking to the media after the meeting.
It is not clear, though, if the party president, Shehbaz Sharif, will lead his workers or stay behind due to backache.
JUIF says anti government march has enough political support to proceed
JUIF says anti government march has enough political support to proceed
- PML-N will join the anti-government demonstration, though it is not clear who will lead the party
- PPP has also decided to support the protest
Sindh assembly passes resolution rejecting move to separate Karachi
- Chief Minister Shah cites constitutional safeguards against altering provincial boundaries
- Calls to separate Karachi intensified amid governance concerns after a mall fire last month
ISLAMABAD: The provincial assembly of Pakistan’s southern Sindh province on Saturday passed a resolution rejecting any move to separate Karachi, declaring its territorial integrity “non-negotiable” amid political calls to carve the city out as a separate administrative unit.
The resolution comes after fresh demands by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and other voices to grant Karachi provincial or federal status following governance challenges highlighted by the deadly Gul Plaza fire earlier this year that killed 80 people.
Karachi, Pakistan’s largest and most densely populated city, is the country’s main commercial hub and contributes a significant share to the national economy.
Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah tabled the resolution in the assembly, condemning what he described as “divisive statements” about breaking up Sindh or detaching Karachi.
“The province that played a foundational role in the creation of Pakistan cannot allow the fragmentation of its own historic homeland,” Shah told lawmakers, adding that any attempt to divide Sindh or separate Karachi was contrary to the constitution and democratic norms.
Citing Article 239 of Pakistan’s 1973 Constitution, which requires the consent of not less than two-thirds of a provincial assembly to alter provincial boundaries, Shah said any such move could not proceed without the assembly’s approval.
“If any such move is attempted, it is this Assembly — by a two-thirds majority — that will decide,” he said.
The resolution reaffirmed that Karachi would “forever remain” an integral part of Sindh and directed the provincial government to forward the motion to the president, prime minister and parliamentary leadership for record.
Shah said the resolution was not aimed at anyone but referred to the shifting stance of MQM in the debate while warning that opposing the resolution would amount to supporting the division of Sindh.
The party has been a major political force in Karachi with a significant vote bank in the city and has frequently criticized Shah’s provincial administration over its governance of Pakistan’s largest metropolis.
Taha Ahmed Khan, a senior MQM leader, acknowledged that his party had “presented its demand openly on television channels with clear and logical arguments” to separate Karachi from Sindh.
“It is a purely constitutional debate,” he told Arab News by phone. “We are aware that the Pakistan Peoples Party, which rules the province, holds a two-thirds majority and that a new province cannot be created at this stage. But that does not mean new provinces can never be formed.”
Calls to alter Karachi’s status have periodically surfaced amid longstanding complaints over governance, infrastructure and administrative control in the megacity, though no formal proposal to redraw provincial boundaries has been introduced at the federal level.
