Pro-democracy: JUI-F stages rally against anti-govt sit-ins
Hundreds of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam- Fazl (JUI-F) activists staged a rally on Friday against the anti-government sit-ins by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Pakistan Awami Tehreek in Islamabad.
The participants of the rally, accusing Imran Khan and Dr Tahirul Qadri of 'blackmailing democracy', held placards and banners inscribed with slogans in favour of democracy and marched from the Binori Town mosque to the Karachi Press Club, a day after JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman vowed to hold countrywide protests.
"Imran [Khan] and [Dr Tahirul] Qadri's protest marches and their demand for the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif are not only inconsistent with reason but are unconstitutional as well," said JUI-F provincial vice-president Qari Muhammad Usman, while addressing the participants. "They seem to have gotten carried away by their desire to become the prime minister of the country and are holding the entire nation hostage by gathering several thousand supporters in Islamabad."
He added that similar protests would be held against Khan and Qadri in every city and town of the country if they continued to insist on disrespecting the country's constitution and parliament.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 23rd, 2014.