LARKANA: On the call of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), workers of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazal (JUI-F) took out processions, held rallies and sit-ins in Larkana, Jacobabad and Kandhkot on Friday in protest against the arrest of political activists of the PDM, their manhandling in Multan’s public meeting and raids on the houses of the movement leaders in Punjab.

In Larkana, the JUI-F took out a procession from Jamia Islamia and after marching on main thoroughfares, the protesters gathered in front of the local press club. Carrying banners, placards and party flags, they were chanting slogans against the “excesses”.

Speaking on the occasion, Larkana district JUI-F emir Maulana Nasir Mehmood Soomro and others said the PDM’s public meetings had created problems for the rulers and they were booking innocent people in false cases and beating party activists who were raising voice against what they called the ‘selected’ government.

They said the unprecedented price spiral paired with unemployment of thousands of workers from Pakistan Steel and other industrial enterprises had exposed the directionless policies of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government. Instead of providing facilities to people, its steps had aggravated their problems, they observed.

The PDM was fighting for the rights of the masses while the PTI-led government was out to pitch institutions against people, they said, expressing the resolve that their struggle would continue unless the goal was achieved.

They said the supremacy of “invisible” forces would not be accepted and pronounced that the days of the PTI government were numbered. They said that education, health, economy, agriculture and other sectors had nosedived since the PTI-led government came into power. They said the Dec 13 public meeting of the PDM in Lahore would turn out to be a referendum against the government.

SUKKUR: In Jacobabad, a large number of JUI-F workers took out a rally from the party district office to the local press club.

Holding placards inscribed with slogans against the federal government, they marched on different roads before gathering in front of the press club where they held a sit-in.

Addressing the sit-in, Jacobabad district JUI-F president Dr A.G. Ansari and others said Prime Minister Imran Khan could not control the prices of wheat flour and sugar; therefore he had no right to remain in the government.

They said inflation was increasing fast with the result that the poor were facing problems in arranging even one square meal for their families. Rates of life-saving drugs had increased up to 200 per cent in Pakistan, they said, adding that additional taxes on daily-use items had broken the backbone of poor people.

People would get relief when the PTI government ended, they said. By tendering resignation, Prime Minister Imran Khan should end his government so that people got rid of inflation, unemployment and uncertainty.

In Kandhkot, a sit-in was held at the roundabout of the local press club, led by Qari Shafi Mohammad Khoso, Maulana Shamsuddin Bheri and others.

JUI-F workers were raising slogans while the protest leaders told reporters that the federal government was frightened of the participation of a large number of people in the public meetings of the PDM. They said cases were being registered against innocent people and they were being arrested.

They the public meeting of the PDM in Lahore on Dec 13 would prove to be the last public meeting in the tenure of the present “selected” government.

They appealed to the people of Kandhkot to attend the PDM meeting in Lahore.

Published in Dawn, December 5th, 2020