LARKANA: Describing the elections as engineered, the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) has supported the Grand Democratic Alliance’s call for protest against massive rigging in the just concluded elections. The protest is scheduled for Feb 16 in Hyderabad.

Addressing a press conference, along with former GDA MPA Moazzim Abbasi, at Larkana Press Club on Tuesday, JUI-F district emir Maulana Nasir Mehmood Soomro said the elections were held under a well-calculated plan, and massive rigging was committed throughout the province.

Maulana disclosed that the JUI-F was offered eight seats, but keeping ‘our word with the GDA, we stood by the commitment’.

He said the JUI-F would soon decide about its future strategy amid the election results.

He condemned an incident in the area in which three persons, including an ASI, were killed in exchange of fire and demanded instituting a judicial enquiry into the mishap to fix responsibility.

Moazzim Abbasi condemned the killing of three people and said that an early solution to the issue was necessary as the tense situation would not benefit anyone.

He said that JUI-F leader Maulana Nasir Mehmood Soomro met DIG and was satisfied with his word to resolve the issue.

Jamil Soomro, political secretary to Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, who won PS-11 (Larkana-II) in Feb 8 elections, called for initiating a judicial probe into the incident wherein fire was traded between the members of Chandio and Dahani clans, leaving three persons dead.

The situation was tense in the area after the incident.

Published in Dawn, February 14th, 2024