NOWSHERA: Jamaat-i-Islami’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief Mushtaq Ahmad Khan said on Thursday that delegations from 23 countries, including Turkey, had been invited to attend his party’s two-day congregation, scheduled to start from Oct 22 (Saturday) here at Azakhel.

Addressing a press conference here, he claimed that millions of people would participate in the congregation. MNA Sahibzada Tariqullah, senior minister Inayatullah, provincial minister Mehboobur Rehman and party’s provincial secretary general Abdul Wasay were also present on the occasion.

The congregation will be held at Azakhel, some 10km from Nowshera. Different stalls and main information centre have also been set up at the venue. “About Rs120 million has been spent so far on preparation for the congregation,” said Mushtaq Ahmad.

Mian Yasir Ijaz, a local JI leader, said that a special stage had been set up for the leaders in the centre of the ground.

The party’s KP chief said that they had invited about 20 million people through their 50-day campaign, during which they had held over 1,000 public gatherings at the union council level and 3,500 at the village council level.

He said that JI central chief Sirajul Haq would be present on both days of the congregation while Prof Ibrahim and Hafiz Mohammad Idrees would lead different sessions of the gathering.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2016