Extraordinary Summit of United Opposition at Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s Residence: Announcement of a Nationwide APC in November and a Joint Protest Front
Imran Khan Should Be Immediately Shifted to Shifa Hospital; Strong Condemnation of Governor's Rule in KP and Bloodshed in Azad Kashmir; United Opposition Speaks With One Voice Against Sending a Drone Over Maulana Fazlur Rehman's Residence
ISLAMABAD (Daily Qudrat Quetta): An important and emergency meeting of the United Opposition was held at the residence of JUI Ameer Maulana Fazlur Rehman, in which head of the Movement for the Protection of the Constitution of Pakistan Mahmood Khan Achakzai, JUI Ameer Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate and MQM head Allama Nasir Abbas, former National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, former federal minister Senator Noor-ul-Haq Qadri, Chief Whip National Assembly Aamir Dogar, Senator Kamran Murtaza, former Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani, Hafiz Hamdullah, Maulana Ata-ur-Rehman, Maulana Ata-ul-Haq Darwish, Maulana Salahuddin Ayubi, Movement for the Protection of the Constitution spokesman Hussain Ahmed Yousafzai, Khalid Yousuf Chaudhry, Zahid Durrani, Aslam Ghori, Allama Ahmed Iqbal Rizvi and other leading leaders participated.
The meeting held detailed deliberations on sending a drone over Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s house, the issuance of illegal notices, the country’s overall political and parliamentary situation, threats to the Constitution and democracy, the imprisonment of PTI founder Imran Khan and the serious risks to his health and life, the release of all political prisoners including Aleema Khan, Uzma Khan, Noreen Niazi and Qasim Zaman, the emergency and Governor’s Rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the alleged enforced disappearance of KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, Speaker Babar Saleem Swati and parliamentarians, the bloody situation in Kashmir, the worst inflation, corruption scandals and the closure of Pak-Afghan trade routes.
Participants of the meeting paid rich tribute to Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s unequivocal stance in strongly opposing the imposition of Governor’s Rule and emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and strongly condemned government revenge against him, the character assassination campaign, and the violation of the sanctity of his residence and private space through the use of a drone. The United Opposition made clear that answering political disagreement by violating private life and the sanctity of homes is fascism, and the entire opposition stands shoulder to shoulder with Maulana Fazlur Rehman.
The meeting, expressing serious concern over the continued imprisonment of PTI founder Imran Khan, the non-provision of basic medical facilities and the risks to his life, strongly demanded that he be immediately shifted to Shifa International Hospital in light of the Supreme Court’s orders. The leaders demanded the immediate release of all political prisoners in the jails of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including Imran Khan’s sisters Aleema Khan, Uzma Khan, Noreen Niazi and Qasim Zaman, and the immediate stoppage of violations of private space under 3 MPO.
The United Opposition, terming the ongoing crackdown against the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and elected representatives an attack on provincial autonomy and the democratic system, demanded the immediate recovery of the disappeared and detained KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, Speaker Babar Saleem Swati, provincial ministers Dr Amjad Ali Khan and Fazal Shakoor Khan, MNAs Junaid Akbar, Muhammad Iqbal Afridi, Fazal Muhammad Khan, Adil Khan Bazai, Haji Imtiaz Ahmed Chaudhry, Zubair Khan, Naseem Ali Shah and provincial assembly members Ikramullah, Dilawar Khan, Aurangzeb Khan, Abdul Salam Afridi, Muhammad Riaz, Sultan Room, Yameen Khan, Muhammad Azam and Fateh-ul-Mulk Nasar.
The leaders alleged that at the behest of the PPP and its Governor, PTI leaders are being kept in illegal detention in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on the pretext of instability, and the people are being economically exploited in the name of encroachments, on which the PPP should clarify its position by ending its double standard. Participants demanded a judicial and impartial investigation into the IMF’s identification of Rs5,300 billion in corruption and Federal Minister Chaudhry Salik Hussain’s statements regarding corruption in Punjab.
The meeting formally announced the holding of an All Parties Conference (APC) this month, November, to unite political and democratic forces across the country on one platform. An empowered organising committee has been formed for the administrative and political preparations of the APC, comprising Salman Akram Raja, Senator Kamran Murtaza, Muhammad Aslam Ghori, Aamir Dogar, Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar and Naseer Shirazi, while Akhunzada Hussain Ahmed Yousafzai and Khalid Yousuf Chaudhry have been appointed coordinators. In addition, a separate sub-committee has also been formed to strengthen mutual cooperation between JUI and PTI.
Participants, condemning the ongoing bloodshed in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, the blockade of food and medicines and serious human rights violations, demanded immediate negotiations with the protesters by the government. In the declaration, terming the continued closure of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s trade routes with Afghanistan an economic massacre of the people, they reiterated the resolve to continue joint resistance until the restoration of the Constitution and democracy, demanding the immediate restoration of border trade and outright rejection of any policy regarding minerals without recognising the right of the local population in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
