Controversial polls: JUI-F on warpath

Jamaat-e-Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Sindh staged a protest demonstration outside the Provincial Election Commission office in Karachi against the alleged electoral fraud.

JUI-F Sindh Secretary General Allama Rashid Mahmood Soomro addressed the gathering, stating that JUI-F has decided to launch a nationwide movement against “doctored election results.”

He asserted that Sindh has witnessed the worst electoral fraud, with constituency delimitations made to favour the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), and appointments of Returning Officers (ROs) and the District Returning Officers (DROs) influenced by Wadera Shahi.

He lampooned the Sindh Election Commission, the bureaucracy and the state institutions, which according to him were helpless against the powerful waderas of Sindh on the Election Day.

JUI leaders, including Maulana Abdul Kareem Abid, Qari Usman, Dr. Nasiruddin Swati, Maulana Muhammad Ghiyas, Maulana Sami-ul-Haq Swati, Maulana Noor-ul-Haq, Maulana Zareen Shah, Habibullah Andar, and Sharafuddin Andar, also addressed the gathering.

Maulana Soomro, while addressing the crowd, highlighted that police, Rangers, and army were not deployed at the sensitive constituencies in Sindh.

He criticised the authorities for leaving the mandate of Sindh's people at the mercy of landlords, citing the establishment of records of the worst electoral fraud, despite the disappearance of Form 45 and missing ballot papers. Against this injustice, JUI-Sindh has initiated a movement across the province.

Tomorrow, on Friday, workers from Ghotki and Kashmore will block roads from Kashmore, and workers from Sukkur will block roads from Sukkur. The Sindh-Punjab border will also be closed for an indefinite period. He demanded that NA-191 Kashmore, PS-02 Panu Aqil, and PS-22 Thul results be released according to Form 45.

Allama Rashid Mahmood Soomro emphasized that now they have come out among the people, and decisions will be made not in the assemblies but among the people.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 16^th, 2024.