RAWALPINDI: The Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), PPP and PML-N have finalised their public mobilisation plan to join the Azadi March in Islamabad and the Rawalpindi division.

The parties have decided on a combined campaign for the mobilisation of the public in different parts of the Rawalpindi division to participate in the march.

JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said on Sunday that the Rawalpindi chapters of all three parties held a meeting to discuss strategies to mobilise the public for the march.

Rallies to enter Rawalpindi from Rawat, Attock, Fazl says

Party leaders decided they would bring their workers to the march prepared for a sit-in, he said. They have also made plans for how to bring people to the march if the government places shipping containers to intercept them.

Mr Rehman said PML-N leaders assured that the party would continue to work with the JUI-F until Prime Minister Imran Khan resigns.

They will continue to hold meetings over the next few days to continue planning according to their requirements, he said.

Rallies from Lahore and Peshawar, among other parts of the country, will enter Rawalpindi from Rawat and the Attock Bridge, Mr Rehman said.

However, this is an initial plan and could be changed on Oct 29 or Oct 30; the march is scheduled to enter the capital on Oct 31.

“There are enough people in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad to fill Jinnah Avenue,” Mr Rehman claimed.

He said the Punjab police has not yet arrested JUI-F leaders but is pressuring party leaders using various means.

“Some prominent leaders were booked in cases of collecting sacrificial animal hides in the past, and these cases were renewed now,” he said.

Former PML-N MNA Malik Shakil Awan told Dawn that the party has made a plan to welcome the Azadi March in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, and four teams have been formed to protect party workers.

“PML-N Metropolitan president Sardar Naseem and I will lead former union council chairmen and city workers, former MNA Malik Abrar will lead elected members of the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board and cantonment workers while Daniyal Chaudhry will lead the Chaklala Cantonment Board and cantonment workers,” he said.

The JUI-F had initially told the PML-N the PML-N would join the march on Murree Road and in other parts of the city after it has entered Rawalpindi, he said, adding that the mobilisation of workers has begun and leaders have been asked to avoid arrest.

The party leadership has asked party workers to join the march, and their presence will be checked, he said. Mr Awan said a monitoring team of the party leadership will note the presence of all local eaders.

PPP Rawalpindi chapter secretary general Chaudhry Iftikhar said the PPP was ready to participate and will launch a worker mobilisation campaign soon.

“We have asked the workers to gather in Rawalpindi and Islamabad so that the area is closed down if the police stop them,” he said.

Local leaders and MPAs have been allocated points where they are to bring workers to protest in case of police action against the main rally.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2019