Maulana Fazlur Rehman ends dharna to pursue Plan B

ISLAMABAD: The peaceful sit-in of the JUI-F in the federal capital ended on Wednesday as Maulana Fazlur Rehman directed the party workers to join the Plan B of the Azadi March to block the main highways across the country.

“Now we will disperse peacefully to open a new front against the government and will block the main highways and roads of the country to press our demands,” Fazl while making his farewell address said.

The JUI-F leader, who had claimed that he would not leave Islamabad without the resignation of the prime minister, however, claimed that Plan A which started on October 27 has been successful in achieving many objectives. “We have been able to shake roots of the government which now needs a jolt,” he said.

Earlier, there were rounds of talks between the Rehbar Committee of the opposition and the government’s negotiating team. Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Chaudhry Pervaiz Illahi made contacts with Maulana but to no avail.

Fazl said his party workers have started their protest on highways, asking participants of the sit-in to leave for their native towns to join their colleagues. “We will not sit inside cities so that common people do not suffer and will block the GT Road and other highways,” he said.

JUI-F General Secretary Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri told the audience that the party workers had already started blocking roads across the country. He said the Quetta-Chaman road has been blocked while the same exercise would be carried out on the Rawalpindi-Peshawar GT Road and Korakoram Highway on Thursday.

Fazl went on to say that all institutions should support their Azadi March as his party is endeavouring to rid them of external pressure and enhance their respect. “I call upon the institutions not to create hurdles in the way of their protest as his party does not want confrontation,” he said. He maintained that they would never accept the illegitimate government which came into power as a result of fake elections. “I call upon the nation to come out on roads to record their protest,” he said.

Towards the end of his speech, Fazl came down hard on the government for creating hurdles in the departure of ailing Nawaz Sharif for medical treatment. “We condemn the indecent attitude of the government for playing with the health of Nawaz Sharif,” he said. He repeated allegations against the government of making deal on Kashmir and regretted its failure to bring Dr Aafia Siddiqi back home. “We have not been able to bring our daughter back home due to weaknesses of the government,” he said.