LARKANA: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has said that his party and the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) share common stance on various issues confronting Sindh.

He was speaking at a reception hosted by Larkana’s Abbasi family at Kot Durab on Wednesday night.

He mentioned his long and close relations with the Abbasi family, saying that whenever he visited Larkana, he used to visit the family.

He pointed out that the JUI-F had succeeded in getting 30 controversial articles, related to human rights violations, struck down from the original draft of the 26th Constitutional Amendment after marathon consultation meetings.

He said his party was against human rights violations and was democratically advancing its struggle. “JUI-F is a popular and strong party of the country,” he claimed, and said that its workers were fully determined to move forward with the real spirit at all forums.

Welcoming the guests, GDA General Secretary Dr Safdar Abbasi also spoke about the long family ties with Maulana Fazlur Rehman. “During the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD), we came closer and since then our contacts are alive,” he said.

Pointing out that the GDA and JUI-F were struggling together on the burning issues pertaining to federal and provincial governments. “We both are not accepting the results of “bogus” general elections of 2024. In these elections, winners were turned runners-up through gerrymandering. Particularly, candidates of JUI-F and GDA were targeted in Sindh,” Dr Safdar said.

JUI-F Sindh General Secretary Maulana Rashid Mehmood Soomro said former GDA MPA Moazzim Abbasi was like his brother and had spiritual relationship with him. He, in unequivocal terms, said that his party and GDA had not accepted the 2024 election results at the outset and were still stuck to the stance. He declared that the fight with Election Commission of Pakistan would continue.

Maulana Soomro threw a challenge that if the ballot boxes of Thull, Kashmore and Shikarpur constituencies were opened even today, the JUI-F-backed candidates would stand returned with a thumping majority. He said his party had persistently been demanding holding of transparent elections in the country.

Former GDA MPA Moazzim Abbasi, Barrister Kazim Ali Abbasi and prominent figures from different walks of life attended the reception.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2024