Prime Minister Imran Khan Wednesday allowed Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) to hold its Azadi March "if it takes place within the ambit of law and the Constitution as interpreted in the decisions of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and Islamabad High Court."
The decision came following a meeting between the PM and the members of seven-member committee, headed by Defense Minister Pervez Khattak, tasked to hold dialogue with opposition in general and the JUI-F in particular over the latter's Azadi March plan on October 31. Apart from Khattak, Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani, Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser, Speaker Punjab Assembly Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood, Minister for Religious Affairs Noor-Ul-Haq Qadri and PTI's Member National Assembly (MNA) Asad Umar are part of the committee.
"It was decided that the government, with its firm belief in upholding democratic ideals, would allow the proposed Azadi March, if it takes place within the ambit of law and the Constitution as interpreted in the decisions of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and Islamabad High Court," said a press release issued from the Prime Minister's Office after the meeting between the PM and the government committee members.
Meanwhile, reports surfaced at Wednesday night suggesting that Pervez Khattak and Chaudhry Pervez Elahi contacted Convenor Rahbar Committee and senior JUI-F leader Akram Durrani. Both sides agreed to meet at Durrani's residence on October 25.
On October 27, 2016, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had ordered that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) should hold its protest at Parade Ground while barring Imran Khan's party from locking down Islamabad. The court issued this order on the petition against PTI's scheduled lockdown of the federal capital on November 2, 2016. The PTI was set to challenge this decision in the Supreme Court before the top court started hearing of Panama Papers case on November 1, a day before the planned lockdown, leading the PTI to cancel its protest campaign. Instead, the PTI leadership celebrated a "Thanksgiving Day' at the Parade Ground.
A PTI lawmaker told Business Recorder that the meeting between the PM and the government committee members decided to seek a written undertaking from the JUI-F leadership containing assurances that the protest would remain peaceful and the protestors would not resort to any kind of violence, before formally allowing the JUI-F protestors to gather at Islamabad's Parade Ground located near the famous tourist spot of Shakarparian.
PM Khan and his government came under sharp criticism for earlier 'daring' the JUI-F and other opposition parties to stage a sit-in at D Chowk, saying the government would facilitate the protestors by providing them containers and food. Lately, however, the federal government has started taking stringent measures to block the protestors from entering Islamabad, in the name of security.
The PTI source claimed the PM has not backtracked from his statement regarding facilitating the protestors. "But, as we have seen on television channels and social media, there were JUI-F groups armed with batons, sticks and rods who are challenging the writ of the State. There shall be no tolerance for such elements. It is our government's responsibility to ensure peace and security and no stone would be left unturned in this regard," the source referred to videos featuring JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman receiving 'guard of honour' from his baton-armed groups of loyalists who were dressed in khaki coloured uniform.
"In such a situation, how can we allow the protestors to gather at D-Chowk which is a stone's throw away from the Parliament?" the insider said, adding that the protestors would be allowed to enter the Parade Ground after clearance from the security agencies that they are not armed with weapons, sticks, batons or anything that can help ignite violence.
Earlier on Tuesday, reports surfaced that Rahbar Committee, an alliance of nine anti-government political parties, conveyed to the government committee that JUI-F is not willing to budge from its demand seeking the PM's resignation before entering into dialogue with the government.
Sources in Senate Secretariat told Business Recorder that the chairman Senate approached JUI-F Secretary General Senator Abdul Ghafoor Haideri in his 'personal' capacity requesting Haideri to facilitate a meeting between the government's committee and JUI-F leadership. However, JUI-F chief Fazl refused to meet the government's side and instead, referred the matter to the Rahbar Committee. "Fazl was mainly instrumental in convincing the parliamentary opposition parties in bringing a no-confidence motion against the chairman Senate, which remained unsuccessful. How can Fazl now agree to hold a meeting with the government side on the chairman Senate's request? If he agrees to do so, that would be embarrassing for opposition in general and Fazl in particular," a JUI-F leader told Business Recorder.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2019