Fazl moves to Sindh ahead of Azadi march

Maulana Fazlur Rehman will convene party’s Shura meeting in Sukkur today

ISLAMABAD: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has moved from Islamabad to Sukkur ahead of his party’s October 31 Azadi march and will chair his party’s meeting in the upper Sindh city today (Thursday) to discuss and finalise a strategy for his anti-government protest.

According to sources, the JUI-F chief will stay in Sukkur still October 27 when he will lead the party’s caravans to Islamabad where the proposed march is scheduled to take place.

As Sindh is ruled by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), it will not be possible for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led government to arrest Fazl as long as he is in the province.

Interestingly, Fazl had called the party’s Majlis-e-Shura meeting in Islamabad today (Thursday) but on Wednesday he changed the venue of the meeting after he and two other party leaders – Akram Khan Durrani and Abdul Ghafoor Haideri – flew into Sukkur.

Sources said Fazl and Haideri will stay in Sukkur till Oct 27; however, Durrani will return to Islamabad today (Thursday) to head opposition party’s Rahbar Committee meeting. Durrani cannot be arrested right now as he has been granted bail by court till November 4.

Last week, the party’s Sindh leaders had revealed to The Express Tribune that their chief is likely to lead the anti-government procession from their province. “Leaders from all four provinces invited Maulana sahib to lead the march from their respective areas, but there is an 80 per cent chance he will start the movement from Sindh,” JUI-F Sindh leader Rashid Khalid Mehmood Soomro said.

Sources privy to the party’s protest plans said the reason Fazl considered leading the protest march from Sindh is that it is likely to encounter the least resistance there.

“Unlike the other three provincial governments, we are sure that Sindh authorities will not create any hindrances for us,” said a senior JUI-F leader. “This will allow us to gather maximum momentum before we enter Obaro on the border between Sindh and Punjab.”

Detailing the party’s plan, a spokesperson for the JUI-F said the march will most likely begin from Karachi on the morning of October 27. After passing through the Karachi toll plaza, the procession will stop momentarily at Hatri Bypass to allow participants from Hyderabad to join in.

The procession is supposed to be at Sakrand by 4 pm, where more participants from Benazirabad and other adjoining areas will join in. By evening, it is planned that the process will reach Sukkur, where it will stay for the night.

After allowing protesters from Larkana, Shikarpur, Jacobabad, and Khairpur to join in, the procession will start marching towards Islamabad at 10 am on October 28, the spokesperson added.