Army Chief met Maulana Fazl before Azadi March: JUI-F leader

ISLAMABAD: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) leader Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri has claimed the army chief invited party leaders to meet them and call off the Azadi March.

The JUI-F leader made the revelation while speaking to a private TV channel, stating that party leaders held a meeting with Chief of Army General Qamar Javed Bajwa prior the Azadi March organised against the government in October last year.

“Don’t interfere in what we are doing with Nawaz Sharif,” the JUI-F leader quoted the army chief as saying. He added that the army chief had told him to call off the Azadi March.

Earlier Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad had revealed that JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari held separate one-on-one meetings with the army chief.

Rashid challenged that he was ready to divulge details if the JUI-F denied the meeting. He expressed surprise over hue and cry over the meetings and asked if it was not an honour to meet the army chief.

He blamed that the JUI-F chief for fuelling sectarian rift in the country. He dared opposition leaders to resign from the assemblies so that they could know about their standing in the next polls.

The federal minister said that the only aim of the opposition was to create hindrance for Prime Minister Imran Khan in acquiring a majority in the Senate election next year. He vowed to expose a political leader every week from now onwards.

He said that Nawaz remained silent for a year and now after speaking during the all parties conference (APC) he had himself dig a grave for his political future.

JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has expressed immense displeasure over Sheikh Rashid Ahmed for disclosing the meeting. He asked if he was making the statement as the military’s spokesman or else he also has a lot of revelations.