Bilawal tells Sindh CM to facilitate JUI-F protest

KARACHI/ISLAMABAD: The Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah called on Chairman Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari at the Bilawal House on Tuesday and briefed him about the overall law and order situation in the province.

He also apprised the party chairman about the hurdles being placed by the federal government to slow down the development pace by holding up the due share of the province in the federal divisible pool.

About the upcoming Azadi March announced by Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Chief of Jamiat Ulema Islam (F), Bilawal observed that protest is the fundamental right of every citizen in a democratic society, and a benchmark of thriving democracy. The PPP therefore supports the Azadi march. He directed the chief minister Sindh to ensure full cooperation with JUI-F for their peaceful democratic protest against the federal government. Bilawal said the PPP government will make all efforts to ensure the safety and security of the protesters and citizens alike.

The Sindh government will coordinate with the protesters to ensure the citizens can carry on with their daily life while the protest is underway, he said. Alternate routes for traffic will be arranged to ensure minimum disruption of daily life.

Meanwhile, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has summoned the meeting of the core committee of the PPP today (Wednesday) in Karachi to work out the extent to which and modalities of how PPP can support the Azadi march announced by Chief of JUI-F Maulana Fazlur Rehman on 27th October.

The main question before the core committee of the PPP is to whether to participate in the Azadi March and if participates then at which extent as the PPP has serious reservations on dharna politics and did not want to take a U-turn from its principal stance of opposing all level of the dharna politics.

The PPP has already decided for extending the moral and political support to Azadi March of Maulana Fazlur Rehman on October yet undecided of extent of level of participation in it.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in a press talk recently in Islamabad had hinted for participation of the PPP in the March but not on dharna as it has serious reservations on it.

But at the same, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari supported the Azadi March cautiously with stating that if the PPP will withdraw its support for Maulana Fazlur Rehman if it suspects that the JUI-F chief is acting on the behest of some other force. “The PPP will support every democratic struggle but the PPP will not support any undemocratic power,” he said in a press talk few days back in Islamabad.

On Tuesday, the meeting of the Rehbar Committee of the opposition was held in which the PPP had conveyed its reservation on the unilaterally decision of announcement of the date of march by Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

The PPP team in the Rehbar committee of the opposition comprised of Syed Nayyer Hussain Bokhari and Farhatullah Babar will brief the PPP core committee on the discussion held in the meeting and the core committee to formulate its decision of either to attend the Azadi March or not.

Besides it, the PPP core committee would also take up the issue of government decision of setting up of the CPEC Authority through promulgation of Ordinance.

Vice President of the PPP Senator Sherry Rehman through a tweet from her official account on Twitter posted that, “Parliament has not seen the TORs of the CPEC Authority established via Ordinance like a ‘royal farmaan. The body proposed by Senate Committee was to coordinate with provinces and multiple stakeholders. No evidence of provincial representation on this one. Squandered opportunity.”