Karachi    -   Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said on Thursday that his party and allies would lock down Islamabad at all costs.

Addressing a presser at Jamia Anwar-ul-Uloom here in Korangi, Fazl said that arrests of party’s leadership as well as workers could not stop this ‘flood’ (Azadi March) from reaching Islamabad, and this would go on as planned even without leadership. “But we cannot predict what will happen after the arrest of leadership. We have taken out 15 million marches without damaging a leaf as we have proved that our workers are politically mature. Our behavior will be the same while marching on Islamabad,” said the JUI-F chief.

He was of the view that the present government had no moral authority to run the country, as it was the product of what he called worst rigging in the July 25 general elections. “The JUI-F and its all allies are in complete agreement that this government came to power as a result of worst rigging,” Fazl said, and added, “But there are some differences amongst these parties over Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government’s right to rule.”

The JUI-F chief said that opposition parties had no plan to defer the march, and that the final date would be announced after consultations with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders. He hoped that Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) would also join them.

Speaking about ‘political victimization’ under the garb of accountability, he said his party was not against accountability, but asked as to why only members of the opposition were being targeted. “Ehtesab Commission in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) was shut down after several cases of corruption surfaced and the accused are now being given shelter. Institutions are being used for the political victimization of opposition members,” he alleged.

Fazl asked as to why the people behind BRT Peshawar’s delay were not arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

Replying to a question about the possible arrest of Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, the JUI-F chief said that if the CM—having the public mandate— could be arrested then why Prime Minister Imran Khan could not be ousted.

Speaking on the Kashmir issue, he said that US President Donald Trump was befooling Pakistan in the name of mediation.

JUI-F Central General Secretary Maulana Abdul Ghaffor Hyderi, Sindh General Secretary Allama Rashid Mehmood Soomro and others were also present on the occasion.

Prior to the presser, the JUI-F chief chaired the party’s provincial Majlis-e-Shoora meeting and reviewed the arrangements for the Azadi March.