Mardan has been selected for launching the second phase of the PDM’s ongoing anti-government movement, as the city will host the first of a series of protests tomorrow (Wednesday) to be organised across the country in the coming weeks before the planned long march towards Islamabad, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Tuesday.
And it is Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman – the JUI-F chief as well as the opposition alliance’s president – who will lead the protest and address the rally around 4pm.
In this connection, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, the party’s secretary general, is scheduled to lead a rally from Katlang – a town located 19 kilometres north of Mardan – which will enter the city in the afternoon.
This rally is part of the efforts to stage a strong power show with people from neighbouring districts of Charsadda and Nowshera too will attend the event.
Sources say the stage for the PDM central leadership has been prepared at a truck as the opposition is set to spread its message in the interior parts of the country after staging successful rallies in big urban centres – Gujranwala, Karachi, Quetta, Peshawar, Multan and Lahore.
Earlier, the PDM had shared its decision to hold protests at divisional headquarters in the movement’s second phase with the option of a wheel-jam strike also considered but announced yet.
On the other hand, PML-N Punjab President Rana Sanaullah on Tuesday warned the government that they would face consequences of disrespecting the sanctity of homes and political victimisation aimed at the opposition members.
Addressing a press conference at the residence of party Saif ul Malook Khokhar, Rana Sana said the women members of opposition leaders’ families were being dragged into political manoeuvring – a clear reference to the nominating Shehbaz Sharif’s wife and daughter in different NAB references and freezing their assets.
He asked the top judiciary and the responsible persons in the establishment to stop this trend and said the fire would engulf everyone if not checked.
Describing the Khokhar Palace as a home of PML-N and Nawaz Sharif, he said the matter had been cleared by the Supreme Court even when “Baba Rehmatey” [the then Supreme Court chief justice Saqib Nisar] launched an inquiry into the matter.
Rana Sana asked the civil servants not to obey illegal orders and advised them that they shouldn’t become part of the gang; otherwise, they would have to face inquiries for their actions.