First responsibility lies with provinces to stop opposition's Azadi March: Interior Minister

Last updated on: 04 October,2019 07:00 pm

Interior Minister talked to Dunya News regarding government's strategy to deal with Azadi March.

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Commenting on opposition’s plan to launch a massive anti-government rally, Interior Minister Ejaz Shah on Friday said that first responsbility lies with the provincial governments to stop this march.

Speaking to Dunya News, the Interior Minister said there is Section 144 in Islamabad’s Red Zone. Police will stop protestors from entering the area.

He further stated that calling Army to control the situation will be the last option. Action will be taken against anyone taking law into his own hands.

On Thursday, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman announced that the party would begin its anti-government ‘Azadi March’ or Freedom March on October 27.

The announcement by Fazlur Rehman has shaken up the country’s dormant political scene overnight forcing the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government to devise a counter strategy against the potential political challenge.

“The current government is the result of a fake election and fake results,” Fazl said during a press conference. He said that all opposition parties had rejected the July 25, 2018 election results and had called for fresh elections. “In this regard, the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam and Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal have carried out 15 ‘million marches’ in the country to raise awareness among the people,” he said.

In July, Fazlur Rehman had demanded Imran Khan to step down or be ready for a long march to Islamabad. Now he is all set to stage a sit-in on the same place where Imran Khan had demonstrated for more than 120 days against then prime minister Nawaz Sharif in 2014.

Fazlur was earlier approached by leaders of the two major opposition parties — Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan people’s Party (PPP) — and requested to postpone dates for sit-in plan and Azadi March till November, but Fazlur Rehman has made it clear it was not his individual decision but that of his party’s Central Working Committee and he was obliged to stand by that decision.