JUIF insists on staging sit-in outside SC

ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Sunday fell short of convincing Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUIF) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman to change the venue of their planned sit-in from outside the Supreme Court to D-Chowk in the federal capital.

Maulana Fazl, who is also head of the multiparty ruling alliance -- Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) -- had announced staging a “peaceful” sit-in outside the apex court on Monday (today) against Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial for “facilitating” and giving “VIP protocol” to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, following a meeting of PDM parties’ heads, also attended by PMLN supremo Nawaz Sharif from London via video link.

Federal Minister for Interior Rana Sanaullah and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar called on Maulana Fazl at his residence and urged him not to stage the sit-in outside the apex court to prevent further tension in the country.

“The government wants the PDM to hold the protest at the D-Chowk,” Dar said, adding that law and order situation was already created a few days ago.

Setting aside their request, Fazl said that convoys from all over the country have left for Islamabad: “We have announced [about sit-in] and now the decision will be made in people’s court.” He assured the ministers that the protest will remain “peaceful”.

A day earlier, inviting workers of all political parties to join the protest, the PDM chief had said that the sit-in in Islamabad outside the Supreme Court will continue until CJP Bandial resigns.

He said that the sit-in would be staged against the protection being given by a three-member bench of the apex court and Islamabad High Court to a “criminal”.

After the announcement of the protest sit-in outside the Supreme Court, the JUIF workers started their movements from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on Monday morning.

Talking to journalists, JUIF leader Maulana Ahmad Ali Darwish said the caravans of the party workers will depart from each district according to their schedule and all convoys will reach Haklah Interchange on Monday afternoon.

The convoy from Peshawar city will depart from the JUIF centre at 9.00am on Monday morning, Darwish added. After reaching Haklah Interchange, all convoys from the KP will go to the apex court in the form of a central convoy, he added.

According to JUIF’s Sindh Secretary General Allama Rashid Mahmood Soomro, a caravan of party workers left Karachi from Sohrab Goth on Sunday to join the sit-in.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Awami National Party (ANP) have separately asked their leaders and workers to attend the sit-in.

Separately, addressing a press conference alongside Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb in Islamabad on Sunday, the interior minister voiced concerns over the PDM protest demonstration, saying “angry protesters in large numbers are intending to attend the sit-in”.

Sana said an intelligence report indicated that staging the protest in the Red Zone or Constitutional Avenue area of the federal capital could create a tense situation.

The agencies have assessed that protesters in large number are intending to attend the PDM protest and they are angry over “Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial due to the decisions being taken by the three-member bench” of the apex court, he said.

“We fear that if this protest takes place in the Red Zone area [then] it will be difficult for the administration to handle the situation,” he remarked.

Meanwhile, Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) Attaullah Tarar reiterated that protest sit-in outside the Supreme Court would continue until the CJP stepped down from his post.

Speaking on Geo News programme ‘Naya Pakistan’, the SAPM said that the JUIF is an organised party and its workers are bound to follow the party’s instructions.

He said all security measures had been taken and the ruling parties’ workers would stage a peaceful demonstration against the CJP.