Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: JUI-F holds protests against election rigging, 'proscribed literature' case verdict

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [Pakistan], February 24 : The Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) on Friday staged protest rallies in various parts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Malakand and Hazara divisions against the alleged election rigging and Supreme Court verdict in a 'proscribed literature' case, Dawn reported.
According to the report, Pakistan's apex court recently issued a release order for a person accused of distributing supposedly proscribed religious literature. The protests in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa came almost two weeks after the apex court's order on an appeal against a verdict of the Lahore High Court.
Protest rallies were called by the JUI-F central leadership after Friday prayers, with demonstrations held in Shangla, Lower Dir, Battagram, Buner and other districts of Hazara and Malakand divisions.
Demonstrations were also organised in KP's merged districts.
Participants of the rallies raised slogans against the superior judiciary and alleged rigging in the general elections.
In Shangla, the rallies were held in Bisham, Alpuri, Kana and Puran tehsils, where JUI-F workers demonstrated and sloganeered against the election commission and caretaker government, Dawn reported.
In Bisham, JUI-F workers blocked the Karakoram Highway and held a protest, which was led by Mufti Muhammad Anwar, Muhammad Jamil, Said Muhammad, Inayatur Rehman, Muhammad Faheem and others.
Mufti Anwar said the judiciary should consult religious leaders before giving verdicts if they were not aware of Islamic laws.
The JUI-F leaders also claimed that their party was defeated in the elections through rigging, alleging that external forces tried to keep religious parties away from Parliament but would not be allowed to succeed.
However, the government and the legal community came out against the "malicious and slanderous campaign" targeting the chief justice, while the controversy also prompted the SC to release its own clarification.
With the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), and their allies striking a deal to form a coalition government, the PTI and some other political parties have altogether rejected the elections and announced country-wide protests.
The PTI has demanded election results be issued based on Form 45 -- the results of a single polling station instead of Form 47 -- the consolidated results of a constituency -- as the party says the latter was tampered with and its independent candidates won a simple majority in the National Assembly.