ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s opposition party, Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F), on Friday said it would scale up its anti-government protest from next week if Prime Minister Imran Khan refused to step down or call fresh elections in the country.
“We have devised our future strategy to increase pressure on the government for the fulfillment of our demands,” Hafiz Hussain Ahmad, JUI-F information secretary, told Arab News.
He said that negotiations with the government had failed to break the impasse since “we are not ready to back down from our demands.”
“All opposition parties have agreed in principle to scale up the protest and announce their next strategy on Sunday,” he said. “The government won’t be able to survive our next phase of protest.”
Ahmad, however, did not share the nuts and bolts of his strategy, but hinted that it might entail closure of highways and motorways across the country. “We have a number of options ready and will exercise them one by one,” he said.
The JUI-F chief, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, has been leading tens of thousands of anti-government protesters in Islamabad, demanding the prime minister’s resignation and fresh elections in the country. The demonstrators have been camping in the federal capital since October 31 to force the government to fulfill their demands.
Several rounds of negotiations between the government and opposition representatives have so far failed to result in an agreement. “The government committee has nothing to offer to make us call off our protest,” the JUI-F information secretary said.
On the other hand, the government said the resignation of the prime minister was “off the table,” but they were ready to address the opposition’s “genuine demands.”
The firebrand religious cleric, who is known for his support base in religious schools across the country, enjoys the support of at least eight other opposition parties as well in seeking the prime minister’s resignation and calling for fresh polls in the country.
In a noisy National Assembly session on Friday, Defense Minister Pervez Khattak, who is leading the government negotiations committee, urged the opposition parties “to come to the table” and help the government resolve their genuine grievances.
“Keep sitting [in the ongoing sit-in], but don’t harm the country,” Khattak said while expressing the government’s resolve to sort out all issues with the opposition through dialogue.
The government earlier also offered the opposition parties formation of a judicial commission to probe the alleged rigging in July 2018 general elections, but the JUI-F chief rejected the proposal.
“We reject every proposal for the formation of the commission,” Rehman said.
JUI-F says protest will be scaled up amid deadlock with government
JUI-F says protest will be scaled up amid deadlock with government
- Oposition parties set to announce their next protest strategy on Sunday
- Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters have staged a sit-in since October 31
Pakistan PM orders safeguards for legitimate travelers amid airport off-loading complaints
- Over 66,000 passengers were off-loaded this year by Pakistani authorities as part of a crackdown on illegal migration
- Instruction comes a day after Greece rescued about 540 illegal migrants at sea, including several Pakistani nationals
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday acknowledged complaints over passenger off-loading at airports and ordered safeguards for legitimate travelers, as he chaired a meeting on human smuggling a day after Greece rescued hundreds of migrants, including Pakistanis, at sea.
Earlier this week, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) said in a briefing to a parliamentary committee that more than 66,000 passengers had been off-loaded from Pakistani airports this year over suspected irregular travel, while tens of thousands were deported from Gulf states and other countries amid a broader crackdown on illegal migration.
The meeting chaired by Sharif reviewed enforcement measures aimed at curbing human smuggling and illegal immigration, with officials highlighting a 47 percent decline in illegal migration to Europe from the country following intensified screening at departure points.
“In taking action against those traveling illegally or holding suspicious travel documents, special care must be taken to ensure that passengers with valid documents are not affected,” the prime minister said, according to a statement issued by his office.
Sharif also ordered improvements in coordination between the FIA, the Protectorate of Emigrants and other agencies to facilitate Pakistanis traveling abroad legally for employment, while calling for stricter action against corrupt officials.
The meeting was also briefed about a growing reliance on technology by the immigration authorities to address weaknesses in the existing system. Authorities said work was under way to expand the use of electronic gates at airports, allowing automated identity verification to reduce discretionary checks.
Officials also said Pakistan was developing a mobile application to access passenger data and integrating advance passenger information and passenger name record (API-PNR) systems, enabling authorities to flag potentially fraudulent travel documents before departure.
Artificial intelligence tools are being introduced to support risk assessment and targeted screening, the statement added.
Pakistan intensified action against illegal migration in 2023 after hundreds of people, including its own nationals, died while attempting to cross the Mediterranean in an overcrowded fishing vessel that sank off the Greek coast, prompting widespread outrage and scrutiny of smuggling networks.
The meeting followed a Greek coast guard statement on Friday saying it rescued about 540 migrants from a fishing boat south of the island of Gavdos, transferring them to temporary facilities on Crete. Greek authorities said the group included nationals of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Egypt.
The latest rescue highlights how, despite tighter controls and airport screening at home, migrants continue to seek dangerous routes to Europe, largely driven by economic hardship and the promise of work in richer countries.
