ISLAMABAD: Maulana Fazlur Rehman, head of his own faction of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F), has defended the government’s act of sealing the capital’s Red Zone by placing containers, alleging that Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan wants mayhem in the country on Nov 30.

“Their (PTI leaders) tone and tenor in the public meetings and protests show they want chaos in the country,” the JUI-F chief said while briefing reporters after a two-day meeting of his party’s Majlis-i-Shoora here on Tuesday.

He said maintaining law and order was the prime responsibility of the government and it had the right to take steps in this direction.

“The bubble of the sit-in has already burst. And in future, perhaps no one will opt for a sit-in as a political activity,” he said, adding that the PTI’s sit-in had already failed as it had got nothing even after three months.

“May be there are a few abuses left unsaid by them and they will come out on that day,” Maulana Fazl said in response to a question regarding the PTI’s planned public meeting in Islamabad on Nov 30.

Flanked by senior party members, including Hafiz Hussain Ahmed and Khalid Soomro, the JUI-F chief blamed the media for creating a crisis-like situation, claiming “otherwise, there is no political crisis in the country”.

The JUI-F chief urged the PML-N government to implement the accord reached between the two parties at the time of forming the coalition government.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2014