Govt vows to maintain its writ during ‘Azadi march’ – Newspaper

ISLAMABAD: The government expressed concern about what states that some participants in the Azadi march of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) carry prohibited weapons and decided to maintain their order during the demonstration of opposition strength in the capital federal. .

The issue of security during the Azadi march was raised Tuesday at a federal cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan. The meeting reiterated that the prime minister would never renounce the opposition's demand.

"We have video clips of the Azadi march in which some of the participants were wearing Kalashnikovs," said Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Information, Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan, at a press conference after the cabinet meeting.

He said that at the meeting it was decided that the government would adhere to a recent agreement reached between the Rehbar Committee of the opposition and the local administration of Islamabad regarding the place of the march, which began in Karachi on October 27 and will culminate and be completed. It will become a public meeting and maintenance of public order.

Calling Azadi March a "Fitna march", the special assistant said the government would treat the agitators with an iron hand if they violated the agreement and tried to proceed to the Red Zone. [the area which houses sensitive and important buildings like the Parliament House and the Supreme Court] or near D-Chowk, where Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) had organized a sit-in for 126 days in 2014.

"Let them come to Islamabad and then we will see how to react."

“We have seen video clips of Maulana Fazlur Rehman while leading the Azadi march and we learned that he was being accompanied by members of Ansarul Islam facing a ban. We cannot sit as a silent spectator if a rebel mob defies the state's mandate, ”said Dr. Awan.

She said Maulana Fazl was not ready to accept the government and parliament despite the fact that her own son was a member of the National Assembly.

The case of Nawaz Sharif

Speaking about the verdict of the Islamabad High Court on the declaration of bail by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Dr. Awan said the government complied with the decision but at the same time hoped that the courts would provide similar relief to all sick and deserving prisoners in prisons.

However, by rejecting media reports about a possible & # 39; agreement & # 39; between the government and Nawaz Sharif, she said: "It is said that Nawaz Sharif is in poor health and we do not want to weaken a weak person. We will fight only against the powerful," adding that Prime Minister Khan had already made it clear that there should be a clear difference between health [of ailing opposition leaders] and politics

In response to a question about the possibility of Mr. Sharif's treatment abroad, he said that so far the government had not received any written request from him about it. "Decisions about the health status of opposition leaders must be made by the doctors and the courts concerned," he said.

Posted on Dawn, October 30, 2019