JUI-F threatens to block KKH

MANSEHRA: Member of central executive committee (Shura) of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and former senator Hidayatuallh Shah on Sunday said his party would block the Karakoram Highway (KKH) to traffic if the government attempted to stop the Azadi March.

"We are peaceful and would remain peaceful. And if the government tried to stop our peaceful march, we would block Karakorum Highway to all sort of traffic for the indefinite period," he told a news conference here. Flanked by officer-bearers of his party in Mansehra, he said that the country's constitution allows them to exercise their democratic right to a peaceful assembly and protest. "The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government, which claims to be a champion of sit-in and staged the longest ever sit-in in history of country should also respect the democratic right of others and never create hurdles to our Azadi March," he said.

Hidayatuallh Shah, who is also deputy head of his party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said that the provincial executive body of his party was meeting on Monday to decide future strategy if the government attempted to stop JUI-F from holding Azadi March.