K-P govt moves to impede ‘Azadi march’

Yousafzai tells opposition to compete in polls; ANP chief wants PM to provide containers

PESHAWAR: As the date for the opposition’s long march onto Islamabad nears, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government has started to take steps to impede them. Among them, it has decided to bar caterers and transporters from providing their services to participants of ‘Azadi march’. Moreover, it has also started placing containers on bridges on the edge of the province which lead to the federal capital.

Following a lead from officials in the federal capital, the provincial government has summoned details of all such businesses in the city.

The decision was taken after it was learnt that workers of different political parties had started renting vehicles for travelling to Islamabad to participate in the ‘Azadi march’ of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), scheduled to be held on October 27.

Failed politicians banding together

Meanwhile, K-P Information Minister Shaukat Ali Yousafzai, in a video statement on Monday, claimed said that all those politicians who had lost in the July 2018 general elections, had banded gathering together against the elected government.

He added that no one will be allowed to spread anarchy.

“Anybody can gather thousands of people for a sit-in. It is not a feat,” he said dismissively, adding that people such as JUI-F chief Maulana Fazalur Rehman and Awami National Party (ANP) Asfandyar Wali Khan had been rejected by the people.

He wondered what kind of power these people wanted to display now.

Opposition sets conditions for talks with govt

Maulana and opposition parties want to harm the country at a time when, for the very first time, the civil and military leadership are on the same page, the information minister said.

He added that Rehman was the head of the parliamentary Kashmir committee three times and was now in pursuit of inflicting such harm to the Kashmir cause which even India could not achieve.

Govt betraying its autocratic mindest

Meanwhile, ANP President Asfandyar in a statement said that the government was working overtime to put up containers on roads linking K-P and Punjab in a bid to stop their march which betrayed the government’s autocratic mindset as those with democratic inklings would have never have done this.

Asfandyar said that staging protests was a fundamental right of every citizen and if the government attempts to put opposition leader Maulana Rehman and others under house arrest, the situation could spiral out of control.

He added that the government, fearing the march, has started blocking routes across the country while he claimed that containers have been sent to block the Attock bridge.

“The selected rulers have begun taking unconstitutional steps as they can see the government slipping from their hands,” he said, adding that all opposition parties are on the same page for sending the prime minister home.

He also condemned the arrest of JUI-F workers in Rawalpindi and demanded their immediate release. He said that the government should think a thousand times before taking any action, adding that it will only strengthen the Azadi march.

The ANP chief quipped that the government appears to be frightened of the sticks borne by members of a subordinate organisation of JUI-F — the Ansarul-Islam.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 22^nd, 2019.