ISLAMABAD: Maulana Fazlur Rehman, leader of Jamiat-e-Ulama-e-Islam (JUI-F) party, addressed a big gathering in Pakistan’s second largest city, Lahore, on Wednesday before resuming his journey to the country’s federal capital with the stated objective of toppling the government.
“Azadi [freedom] march is the voice of every oppressed soul in Pakistan,” said the firebrand cleric who has rallied tens of thousands of Pakistanis for his anti-government demonstration.
Lahore is considered to be the stronghold of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, one of the biggest opposition factions in the country whose top leader, Nawaz Sharif, is currently undergoing a medical treatment in one of the hospitals in city and had instructed his party workers to join the JUI-F agitation.
Meanwhile, authorities in Islamabad sealed off diplomatic enclave, placing shipping containers in different parts of the city to block the main thoroughfares and entrance routes to manage the incoming protestors who are likely to arrive in the city on October 31.
JUI-F cheif has called the government of cricketer-turned-politician Prime Minister Imran Khan “incompetent and illegitimate.”
Rehman announced a protest campaign earlier this month aimed at ousting Khan, raising the prospect of political turmoil as the government struggles to stabilize the economy.
Protesters set off out on Sunday from the southern port city of Karachi and plan to undertake a 1,440-kilometer-long journey to the country’s capital, passing through major Pakistani cities.
Along the way, it is expected that the march will be joined by thousands of seminary students and convoys of major opposition parties, including the PML-N and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
As the caravan moves toward Islamabad, analysts predict the show will be the biggest public gathering in the federal capital since a 2014 sit-in by Khan, then an opposition leader, against the government of former PM Nawaz Sharif.
Meanwhile, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) ordered the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, from where Rehman’s party draws a majority of its supporters, not to close highways in an attempt to stop the march.
A two-member bench of the PHC said the provincial government should not block any roads with containers, and urged participants of the march to remain peaceful.
Khan won last year’s election on a promise to end corruption and help middle-class families but the economy is running into headwinds and the government in July agreed to a $6 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund.
Election authorities rejected opposition complaints of rigging in the 2018 vote.
Rehman is a veteran politician who heads an alliance with several seats in the National Assembly and provincial assemblies. But his real influence comes from his ability to mobilize support, particularly in numerous religious schools, or madrasas, across the country.
The main opposition parties of former prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto have both said they would back Rehman’s campaign against Khan, though have also said they would not support any unconstitutional action.
In statements reported by media, Khan has said he will not resign or be “blackmailed” by protesters.
On Tuesday, markets and many businesses closed across Pakistan for a strike to protest against government measures aimed at meeting IMF demands to boost tax revenues to bolster depleted public finances.
The International Monetary Fund approved a $6 billion loan package for Pakistan in July but warned that it would require ambitious fiscal measures and a sustained commitment to mobilize tax revenue to ensure funds for development while reducing debt.
The two-day strike is the second since July called by business groups after negotiations with government on efforts to enforce the paying of sales tax and catching tax dodgers.