- Islamabad police launch operation against JUI-F ‘militia’ inside the Parliament Lodges.
- Police have cordoned off all the roads leading towards Parliament.
- JUI-F MNA’s and other party workers are released on surety bonds and personal guarantees.
Islamabad police released two JUI-F lawmakers and workers of Ansarul Islam who were arrested during a police operation inside the Parliament Lodges on Friday, Geo News reported.
On Thursday evening, Islamabad Police stormed the Parliament Lodges and arrested more than a dozen Ansar-ul-Islam workers — a uniformed volunteer force of the JUI including MNA Maulana Jamaluddin, Salahuddin Ayubi and spokesperson Mufti Abdullah.
Following the arrest of party workers and parliamentarians, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman had called a countrywide protest and instructed party workers to stage a demonstration, subsequently, late-night Fazlur Rehman called off protest until morning and demanded to release the arrested party workers.
However, in the wee hours of Friday, the police released JUI-F MNA’s Maulana Jamaluddin, Salahuddin Ayubi and other party workers on bail bonds and personal guarantees.
JUI-F spokesperson Aslam Ghouri confirmed the release of party workers on the microblogging site Twitter and thanked opposition parties and their workers for extending support.
“We want to thank the leadership of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), however the next course of action will be decided after consultation with leadership,” he said
On the other hand, the police have cordoned off all the roads leading towards Parliament amid the JUI-F protest against the arrest of party workers.
‘Private militia not allowed’
Addressing a press conference after the police action, Rasheed had said the Opposition was bringing “mobs” into the Parliament, adding that “no one is allowed to keep private militia”.
He said the police did not arrest the two JUI MNAs, instead, they had “voluntarily gotten themselves arrested” to “show off”, and that “19 private militia members were in police custody.”
“What is their issue? The issue is that Imran Khan has adopted a sovereign foreign policy — we are with the United States, Russia, and China. In the Ukraine-Russia war, we are a neutral player,” he had said.
The interior minister had also warned the Opposition against taking the law into their hands, as he said that there was an attempt to destroy the peace of the country.
Rasheed had referred to Director-General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar’s press conference — where he mentioned that an Indian projectile entered Pakistan’s airspace — and said that this is “Pakistan’s security issue [and the Opposition should] not play with it]”.
The federal minister had said the government conducted “five-hour long talks with the Opposition” as Pakistan was not a “banana state”.
“I have directed all chief secretaries and inspector generals to take those into custody who attempt to take the law into their hands.”
Rasheed had said after the talks with the Opposition “failed”, he brought the matter into the NA speaker’s notice and ordered the Islamabad police to arrest the Ansar-ul-Islam volunteers.
“70 people were there; 19 have been arrested; others will be identified and arrested,” he said and stressed that the no-confidence motion was “a failure, a failure, a failure, a failure, a failure, as the Opposition cannot gather 172 members”.
