SWABI: The supporters of political parties and independent candidates staged rallies and blocked roads in different parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and adjoining tribal districts against the alleged rigging in the July 25 general elections.

A Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl activist suffered injuries in a clash between the PTI’s and his party workers.

The incident occurred in Gandaf village as the PTI workers shouted slogans against rival parties and unsuccessful candidates on the way to the houses of party MNA-elect Asad Qaisar and MPA-elect Rangaiz Ahmad.

JUI-F activist injured in Swabi clash with PTI

Workers of the PTI and JUI-F clashed first had heated exchanges and then clashed injuring Javed Khan Jadoon, son of JUI-F leader Ghafoor Khan Jadoon.

The Topi city police booked PTI workers for violence but didn’t arrest anyone of them by night.

Also in the day, the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal activists marched from the general bus to the Karnal Sher Khan Chowk to protest the alleged election rigging.

The protest suspended traffic on Swabi-Jehangira, Swabi-Mardan and Swabi-Topi roads.

JUI-F leader Maulana Ali told protesters that a conspiracy was hatched against religious parties for their defeat in the general elections.

Other party leaders warned that if the Election Commission of Pakistan failed to meet their ‘genuine’ demands, the party and MMA workers would block the Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway and other main roads.

In Battagram, political activists and supporters of independent candidates continued to stage demonstrations and sit-ins to protest the alleged election rigging.

The sit-in on the Karakoram Highway continued on the second consecutive day despite heavy rain at night.

Shouting slogans, the protesters alleged rigging in PK-29 and NA-12 constituencies and said the sit-in would continue until the elections were declared null and void.

They offered prayers on the road.

Rah-i-Haq Party candidate for PK-29 Atta Mohammad, candidate for NA-12 Saeed Ahmed Malkal, MMA candidate for NA-12 Qari Mohammad Yusuf and independent candidate for NA-12 Maulana Rasheed Ahmed led the protest.

The activists of the JUI-F, QWP, PTI-Ideological, PML-N, PPP, ANP and other parties also showed up to show solidarity with protesters and claimed that the people’s mandate was stolen.

In Charsadda, the MMA workers and leaders marched on roads alleging rigging in general elections.

The rally passed through Mardan Road, Peshawar Road and Tangi Road and ended at the Farooq-i-Azam Chowk, where the speakers said the people rejected election results for massive rigging.

In Karak, JUI-F dissident and independent candidate for PK-85, Karak-I, Javed Iqbal Khattak, alleged the worst rigging during the polling on July 25 and said that he completely rejected the results.

He told Dawn that his supporters were planning to launch a protest movement against the poll manipulation, but he had stopped them from holding demonstrations.

“I have filed applications to the relevant quarters for probing the poll process and recounting of the ballot papers. We have rejected the poll result and after the response to the applications, we would devise a strategy”, he said.

Javed Iqbal said that he was leading the ballot count in over 100 polling stations. “I was shocked to see the result of the remaining few polling stations where the rival candidates had polled a surprisingly huge number of votes”, he said, adding that the entire process was shady and dubious. He added that he would take the rigging issue to a logical conclusion.

In Mansehra, the police sealed all entry points of the city to block the arrival of the PML-N supporters to stage a rally for vote recount in NA-13.

The supporters of PML-N candidate Sardar Shahjehan Yousuf blocked the roads leading to city for the second consecutive day inconveniencing people.

The NA-13 election was won by PTI-backed independent candidate Salah Mohammad Khan.

Assistant superintendent of police Arif Javed told reporters that the police won’t allow anyone to take law into their hands and the troublemakers would be dealt with strictly. He said after the election results’ announcement in NA-13, the supporters of a candidate had created a law and order situation.

In Buner, the PML-N and Jamaat-i-Islami workers demonstrated outside the press club against election ‘rigging and manipulation’.

They demanded vote recount in all constituencies of the district and warned if the demand wasn’t met, they would agitate.

JI leaders Mohammad Hanif, Ghulam Mustafa and Haji Habibur Rehman and PML-N president Haji Sarzamin Khan led the protesters and insisted that the Pakistan Army’s role in elections was questionable.

They said elections were rigged and their results were changed.

In Khar area of Bajaur tribal district, many losing candidates and All Bajaur Political Party Alliance rejected the results of elections for two National Assembly seats and said they would announce future course of action today (Sunday).

During a meeting here, the alliance leaders said scores of irregularities and fraud were reported in elections across the district.

They declared elections a selection of winners and said candidates of a political party were favoured.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2018