‘Accountability Day’: JUI-F hopes to assemble 100,000 protesters today

The party had called for a protest earlier in January to mark the government’s seven months in power.

PESHAWAR:

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) is hopeful of gathering at least 100,000 people in Peshawar for a protest against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led government, planned for Sunday (today).

Party officials told The Express Tribune they have been preparing for the “massive” anti-government rally which will take place on GT Road. “We are expecting about 100,000 people,” estimated JUI-F deputy general secretary Mufti Abdul Ghafoor. Around 2,000 vehicles will carry people from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s (K-P) southern districts to Peshawar.



Ghafoor added the stage will be constructed on Arbab Sikandar Hayat Khan flyover over GT Road, and participants will be seated on the road. The security plan has also been finalised, added Ghafoor. The protest will start around 10am on Sunday and continue till afternoon.

JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, general secretary Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, and Maulana Mohammad Khan Sherani will also attend this rally, in addition to party leaders from parts of K-P, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan. Fazal will address the protesters.

The party decided on January 1 to protest against the seven-month performance of the K-P government.



In a press release, JUI-F spokesperson Jan Mohammad Achakzai quoted the party’s K-P vice amir Maulana Attaur Rehman saying they were observing “an accountability day”. According to the statement, the provincial government has failed in curbing militant activities in the province; blaming the centre for all its problems is a testimony of failure.

One of the stated reasons for Sunday’s protest is inflation, which has spiraled out of the provincial government’s control.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 26^th, 2014.