Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) have announced separate protest activities in Peshawar on February 8, raising concerns over possible political agitation and disruption in the provincial capital.
JUI-F has declared a protest demonstration against what it described as rising lawlessness, corruption, the passage of legislation deemed un-Islamic by parliament, government indifference to key provincial issues, and policies affecting religious seminaries. The decision was taken during a meeting of the JUI-F Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Executive Committee held at Mufti Mahmood Markaz in Peshawar, chaired by the party’s provincial ameer, Senator Maulana Attaur Rehman.
The meeting was attended by senior party leaders, including Senator Maulana Attaul Haq Darvesh, Mufti Ubaidullah, Mufti Fazal Ghafoor, Mufti Nasir Mahmood, Maulana Abdul Haseeb, Muhammad Raheem Haxani, Shah Hussain Alai and Maulana Ahmad Ali Darvesh, among others.
According to party sources, a key meeting of the Provincial Shura will be held on February 7 at 10:00 am at Mufti Mahmood Markaz. The session will be attended by district ameers and nazims, members of the parliamentary party, tehsil nazims and provincial conveners of various party wings to finalize the protest plan and organisational arrangements.
Meanwhile, the announcement of separate protest activities by PTI and JUI-F on the same date has heightened political activity in Peshawar, with authorities expected to remain on alert ahead of the demonstrations.