SUKKUR: Leaders, activists and supporters of major opposition parties held rallies in many cities and towns of Sindh on Friday to celebrate Supreme Court’s judgement restoring the no-trust resolution against Prime Minister Imran Khan in the National Assembly and also rejecting the presidential order for the dissolution of the lower house.

The rallies were organised mainly by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) in different cities and towns of Hyderabad, Sukkur, Jacobabad, Kandhkot, Khairpur and Ghotki districts. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) also held such rallies at a few places but its jubilant workers and supporters participated in the demonstrations organised by the PPP and JUI-F.

At the rally held in Sukkur, provincial and city leadership of JUI-F and PML-N expressed their joy over the SC judgement and described it as victory of the opposition alliance. They condemned the ruling passed by Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri rejecting the no-trust resolution, and said that Supreme Court upheld supremacy of Constitution by declaring his act unconstitutional.

PPP activists participating in the rally danced in the streets and proceeded to the Sukkur House, where sweets were distributed among party workers. Raising slogans in favour of the apex court, their leaders said the judgement buried the ‘doctrine of necessity’.

Talking to media persons, JUI-F leaders termed the verdict a “historical victory for the people of Pakistan” and said the Supreme Court had saved sanctity of the Constitution.

In Jacobabad, a large number of PPP workers took part in a rally taken out from taluka nazim’s residence. Dancing to the tune of party songs and raising slogans against PM Imran Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, they marched up to the DC Chowk, where they held a noisy demonstration.

MPA from Garhi Khero Mir Mumtaz Hussan Jakhrani and others spoke to them and welcomed the SC judgement. They said [PM] Imran Khan had ruined the national economy and his policies caused an unprecedented inflation in the country. They also accused the prime minister of breaching the Constitution.

The JUI-F, PPP and PML-N also held rallies in various cities and towns of Khairpur and Gotki districts. Their jubilant workers and supporters took part in the rallies in big numbers.

HYDERABAD: Sindh Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro on Friday welcomed the SC verdict and described it as the victory of Constitution.

In a statement issued here on Friday, he said the verdict had injected new vigour in the country and democracy. “The PPP and its workers congratulate the entire nation on this historic judgement,” he said, adding that “selected” Prime Minister Imran Khan had trampled over the Constitution only for the sake of his chair and powers.

He said PPP believed in supremacy of Constitution and law. He asked party workers to celebrate the occasion.

Party workers gathered at Qasimabad and Nasim Nagar Chowk, where MPA Abdul Jabbar Khan, former Qasimabad municipal committee chairman Kashif Shoro and Ali Hyder Shah distributed sweets among people. The party workers raised slogan of “go Imran go”.

Another group of PPP workers gathered outside the local press club to celebrate their party’s victory.

PPP Sindh information secretary Aajiz Dhamrah, in his statement, said that the SC verdict defeated “selected PM” Imran Khan and his government. He said it had removed the blot that was put on the face of democracy in 2018.

He said Imran Khan had constantly been misleading the masses and was attempting to create anarchy in the country. He said that dictators in the past had torn apart the 1973 Constitution but it was for the first time in the history of Pakistan that such an act was committed by a civilian ruler. He said that the SC verdict maintained supremacy of democracy and Constitution.

“PPP’s ‘Awami March’ has drowned Imran Khan’s tsunami, he remarked.

Published in Dawn, April 9th, 2022