ISLAMABAD: One of Pakistan’s main opposition parties, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazal (JUI-F), on Friday sacked four of its senior leaders who made critical statements about the anti-government Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) of which JUI-F is part.
The PDM is an alliance of 11 opposition parties, including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and JUI-F, which was formed in September to start a countrywide campaign to remove Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government and hold new elections.
The expelled JUI-F leaders — former Council of Islamic Ideology chairman Maulana Muhammad Khan Sherani, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, Maulana Gul Naseeb Khan and Maulana Shuja-ul-Mulk — last week criticized the party’s involvement in the PDM, with Sherani saying that JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman joined the anti-government alliance for “personal gains.”
“The party’s central executive committee has made a unanimous decision,” JUI-F spokesman Maulana Muhammad Ghauri said in a statement, referring to the expulsion of the four senior party members.
He added that the party has “no link to any statement or opinion of the expelled leaders.”
On Sunday, Sherani said that the PDM cannot topple Khan’s government. He also took a jibe at the JUI-F leader himself who he said was “selected,” in reference to Rehman’s and PDM’s claim that Khan was not elected in 2018 but “selected” by state agencies.
Other expelled leaders had also raised their voices against the anti-government movement, which after a series of mass rallies in planning a long march on Islamabad if Khan does not resign by Jan. 31.
Sabookh Syed, an expert on religio-political parties, said the expulsion of the four senior members from the JUI-F would send a negative message to its workers at the grassroots level, but was unlikely to impact the overall anti-government movement.
“The expulsion of these leaders just over a difference of opinion over the anti-government movement is not a good omen for the party,” Syed told Arab News, adding that the expelled leaders have a huge followership in their respective constituencies and the decision will affect the party’s popularity.
“The JUI-F chief has in fact tried to crush dissent within the party through this expulsion order,” Syed said. “But it will keep haunting him for a long time.”
Pakistani opposition party expels leaders after criticism of anti-government movement
https://arab.news/m3fux
Pakistani opposition party expels leaders after criticism of anti-government movement
- Expelled leaders said the anti-government Pakistan Democratic Movement cannot topple Imran Khan
- The expulsion of four senior party members is expected to affect the popularity of JUI-F on the grassroots level
Pakistan reports first wild polio case of 2026 despite vaccination campaigns
- Four-year-old girl infected in Sindh’s Sujawal district as virus persists in high-risk areas
- Pakistan conducted last nationwide campaign in January, vaccinating over 45 million children
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan reported its first wild poliovirus case of the year, health authorities said on Thursday, underscoring the persistence of the disease in high-risk areas despite ongoing vaccination campaigns.
The latest infection was confirmed in a four-year-old girl in Sujawal district of the southern Sindh province, according to the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health in Islamabad.
Polio is a highly contagious viral disease that can cause permanent paralysis, mainly in children under the age of five. Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where the disease remains endemic.
“The case was reported through the polio surveillance network and confirmed by the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health, Islamabad,” the statement said.
“The Polio Eradication Initiative is already analyzing the best response to tackle and prevent further transmission.”
In 2026, Pakistan conducted a nationwide polio campaign in January that vaccinated more than 45 million children, while the next national campaign is planned for April.
Since 1994, Pakistan has cut polio cases by 99.8 percent through vaccination efforts, reducing infections from an estimated 20,000 in the early 1990s to 31 in 2025.
Pakistan reported 31 polio cases in 2025. Southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa accounted for more than half of the country’s polio cases in 2025, with 17 of the 31 infections reported from the region.
According to health authorities, 74 cases were reported in 2024.
More than 200 polio workers and police officers assigned to protect polio teams have been killed in Pakistan since the 1990s, according to health and security officials.
Militants often falsely claim the vaccination campaigns are part of a Western plot to sterilize Muslim children.
The vaccination campaigns are also undermined by parental refusals in remote regions.
