ISLAMABAD: JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman directed the party workers late on Thursday night to open the highways, but set a deadline of 9am on Friday (today) for the government to release the arrested party leaders and activists.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the joint opposition, Maulana Fazl said if the government didn’t release the party people by 9am, he would again give a call to his workers to block the highways.

Accompanied by BNP chief Akhtar Mengal, the Maulana said he was announcing end of the protest keeping in view the hardships faced by the commuters, including women and children.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court Bar Association asked lawyers to boycott courts on Friday to protest the manhandling of former SCBA president and JUI-F Senator Kamran Murtaza during police action at Parliament Lodges.

Earlier, enraged JUI-F workers blocked roads and highways in different parts of the country. They blocked the Hazara Motorway, Mad­ran-Peshawar Motor­way, Nawab Shah-Sakrand Road, and Pak-Afghan Highway at Jamrud.

All highways linking Balochistan with Sindh and Punjab were blocked by the JUI-F workers at various points. Traffic was suspen­ded between Quetta and Ka­­rachi after the JUI-F activists blocked the Natio­nal Highway at Mastung, Kalat, Khuzdar Uthal and Hub.

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2022

Opinion

Editorial

Military convictions
Updated 22 Dec, 2024

Military convictions

Pakistan’s democracy, still finding its feet, cannot afford such compromises on core democratic values.
Need for talks
22 Dec, 2024

Need for talks

FOR a long time now, the country has been in the grip of relentless political uncertainty, featuring the...
Vulnerable vaccinators
22 Dec, 2024

Vulnerable vaccinators

THE campaign to eradicate polio from Pakistan cannot succeed unless the safety of vaccinators and security personnel...
Strange claim
Updated 21 Dec, 2024

Strange claim

In all likelihood, Pakistan and US will continue to be ‘frenemies'.
Media strangulation
Updated 21 Dec, 2024

Media strangulation

Administration must decide whether it wishes to be remembered as an enabler or an executioner of press freedom.
Israeli rampage
21 Dec, 2024

Israeli rampage

ALONG with the genocide in Gaza, Israel has embarked on a regional rampage, attacking Arab and Muslim states with...