JUI-F march poses no threat to govt, says Punjab governor

LAHORE: Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar said on Tuesday the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl’s (JUI-F) upcoming sit-in in Islamabad poses no threat to the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government, reported ARY News.

Speaking to PTI leader Jahangir Tareen who called on him at the Governor House, he said the government has taken exemplary steps for the welfare of the masses over the first year of its term in office.

“No protest poses any threat to the government,” the governor cleared, adding JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s march amounts to public enmity and that he (Fazl) would bite the dust.

Tareen said the country was on the path to progress under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The PTI’s vision is to bring about prosperity and progress in the country, he added.

Earlier today, a petition seeking to restrain the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) from staging a march and sit-in in Islamabad was filed in the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

A single bench, comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah, will take up the petition tomorrow.

A citizen, Hafiz Ihtesham moved the petition, citing the Ministry of Interior, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra), the capital administration, and JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman as respondents.

He states in the petition that the JUI-F’s Azadi march could disrupt routine life of citizens residing in the federal capital.

The IHC had previously ordered the capital administration to earmark a place for holding of protests in Islamabad so that netizens won’t have to face any kind of hardship, the petition submits and pleads that the party be restrained from setting out on the march.