Maulana Fazlur Rehman likely to meet PML-N, JI top leaders in Lahore

LAHORE: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) supremo Maulana Fazlur Rehman has arrived in Lahore where he is likely to meet the top leaders of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), ARY News reported on Friday.

Sources said that the JUI-F chief will meet PML-N president and Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif in Lahore. Maulana Fazl is also likely to hold a meeting with JI Ameer Senator Sirajul Haq.

The meetings will be focused to appease the opposition leaders for maximum participation in the JUI-F led sit-ins and protests, Azadi March, in Islamabad on October besides finalising the strategy of the anti-government movement.

Read: Azadi March: Petition filed in LHC against JUI-F sit-in in Islamabad

Sources added that Maulana Fazl will get the confidence of N-League leadership over his contacts with the other political parties.

Earlier on Tuesday, the PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb had told media that an important meeting between PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif and JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman will be held on October 18.

The two leaders, during the meeting, will finalize strategy for ‘Azadi March’, said Marriyum Aurangzeb.

She further said that Shehbaz Sharif will announce the final strategy regarding Azadi March in a press conference after the meeting.

Read: PM Imran Khan forms committee to reach out JUI-F

It may be noted that Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s ‘Azadi March’ and sit-in has created a dilemma for Sharifs, whether to participate in the protest or not?

The matter also revealed a gulf between Sharif brothers and the PML-N ranks.

According to sources, Shehbaz Sharif, who is President of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), has apprehensions about some ‘hidden agenda’ behind the protest announced by Fazlur Rehman, the chief of major religiopolitical party Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) against the sitting government.

Shehbaz Sharif had earlier decided to consult over the matter with his elder brother and jailed party supremo Mian Nawaz Sharif.

Read: JI not to support JUI-F’s Azadi March

According to the party sources, Shehbaz Sharif will meet Nawaz Sharif at Kot Lakhpat Jail within a few days to consult over the matter and announce a final decision over the matter.

The PML-N in an earlier meeting had decided to let the party’s jailed supremo Nawaz Sharif to take the decision over the issue.

JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman had announced that his party will begin its anti-government movement on October 27 and the marchers will reach capital city Islamabad on October 31.