QUETTA: Balochistan Home Minister Mir Ziaullah Langove said on Tuesday the provincial government would not allow the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) to hold its ‘Azadi March’ in the province as it would take all possible measures to maintain its writ.

Talking to reporters in the office of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority, Mr Langove said that launching a protest was the democratic right of every political party, but at a time when the enemy is hatching conspiracies against the country the march should not be held.

“In the prevailing situation, permission for the march cannot be granted,” the minister said, adding that the provincial government would ban the protest.

He said an important meeting would be held on Thursday which would decide how to deal with the ‘Azadi March’ in Balochistan. The government had already imposed a ban on a baton-wielding group of the JUI-F, he said.

Meanwhile, parliamentary leader of the Awami National Party in the Balochistan Assembly, Muhammad Asghar Achakzai, said that despite being part of the coalition government of Balochistan, the ANP was not bound to accept the ban on the march.

“The ANP will fully participate in the ‘Azadi March’ in Balochistan and its leadership and workers will reach Islamabad,” Mr Achakzai said. The National Party has already announced its support for the march.

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2019