Daily Times

The government and the opposition on Saturday reached an agreement over the venue for upcoming protest of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) in Islamabad.

The accord was signed between the Islamabad administration and the JUI-F, Minister for Defence and head of negotiation committee Pervez Khattak told a press conference here.

According to the agreement, the JUI-F and its allied parties will organise their protest at an open area in H-9 near Sunday Bazar Metro Depo Centre. Khattak said no obstacles will stand on the route of the march participants nor their food supply will be suspended. He said the Rehbar Committee has ensured the government that it will not march towards D-Chowk and will stay limited to the designated place.

He hoped that the participants will ensure the fundamental rights of the citizens as per the Supreme Court orders. “If any government property is damaged, action will be taken as per law,” he said. The containers will be removed from the federal capital if the protesters abide by the agreement, he said. The organisers will be required to submit to the Islamabad administration a written affidavit guaranteeing that all conditions will be met, he added.

To a query, he said there is no deal between the government and the opposition parties, adding, “We are democratic people and it is the legitimate right of every political party to record its protest in a peaceful manner. This is not like an NRO. That happens when someone does something bad.”

Khattak said the Rahbar Committee did not ask for the prime minister’s resignation and neither the demand for fresh elections had been put forth.

JUI-F leader and head of the opposition’s Rehbar Committee Akram Khan Durrani also announced that the participants of the anti-government ‘Azadi March’ will not enter the Red Zone of Islamabad. “All 11 of the committee’s members are in agreement over the fact that the protesters will not enter the Red Zone,” he said.

Durrani said the protest march will not be prolonged. “We will make further decisions as and when appropriate,” he added.

A few hours before the agreement, Durrani had reiterated the party’s demands, namely, the prime minister’s resignation, fresh elections, no interference from the military, and the protection of clauses pertaining to Islam within the constitution. He had also called for NAB to release all political prisoners.

He had rejected the ban on ‘Ansar-ul-Islam’. “All parties have such wings and it is beyond my understanding why this one was banned,” he had maintained.

The JUI-F leader had insisted that the march will be peaceful and called on the government to open all pathways and roads in the face of an existing threat to the law and order in the country. He had said that the caravans of protesters from the southern districts as well as North and South Waziristan will be personally led by him.

Durrani had expressed confidence that the marchers would be given a warm welcome by all districts that they pass through and said that people from Peshawar, Nowshera and other southern areas would join the caravan. He had said that caravans from Chitral and the adjoining areas would take the Karakoram Highway route.

JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman himself will lead the Azadi March caravan in Karachi at 10am on October 27, a statement issued by the party on Thursday had said. The caravan will proceed to the Superhighway (M9) after smaller demonstrations will depart from the city’s six districts and gather at Sohrab Goth, according to the statement. The Azadi March will officially begin after an address by Maulana Fazlur Rehman at Sohrab Goth to show solidarity with the people of India-occupied Kashmir, the party had said in the statement.

Senior JUI-F leaders have been busy finalising arrangements, which largely include hiring of buses and other vehicles. A senior party member said that the number of buses had already crossed 400.