The Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) staged protest rallies in various parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Malakand and Hazara divisions on Friday against alleged poll rigging and a Supreme Court (SC) verdict in a case about ‘proscribed literature’.

Religious parties and social media users recently took exception to the SC decision ordering the release of a person accused of distributing supposedly proscribed religious literature, with the reaction coming almost two weeks after the apex court’s order on an appeal against a verdict of the Lahore High Court.

The government and the legal community came out against the “malicious and slanderous campaign” against the chief justice while the controversy had also prompted the SC to release its own clarification.

Protest rallies were called by the JUI-F central leadership today after Friday prayers with demonstrations held in Shangla, Lower Dir, Battagram, Buner and other districts of Hazara and Malakand divisions.

Demonstrations were also organised in KP’s merged districts.

Participants of the rallies shouted slogans against the superior judiciary and alleged rigging in the general elections.

In Shangla, the rallies were held in Bisham, Alpuri, Kana and Puran tehsils where JUI-F workers demonstrated and sloganeered against the election commission and caretaker government.

In Bisham, JUI-F workers blocked the Karakoram Highway and held a protest, which was addressed by Mufti Muhammad Anwar, Muhammad Jamil, Said Muhammad, Inayatur Rehman, Muhammad Faheem and others.

Mufti Anwar said the judiciary should consult religious leaders before giving verdicts if they were not aware of Islamic laws.

The speakers also claimed that their party was defeated in the elections through rigging, alleging that external forces tried to keep religious parties away from the Parliament but would not be allowed to succeed.