Pakistan's firebrand cleric-cum-politician Maulana Fazlur Rehman threatened to lockdown the entire country as a deadline set by him calling for prime minister Imran Khan's resignation expired on Sunday night.
Rehman, the leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F), addressed a mammoth protest rally in the capital Islamabad at the end of two-day deadline. Rehman had led a caravan of supporters, dubbed the ‘Azadi' March, to Islamabad last week in an attempt to pressure Khan to step down.
So who is Maulana Fazlur Rehman?
Born in June 1953, Fazal-ur-Rehman is a hard-line, right-wing Pakistani politician and current president of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam(JUI) a Assembly of Islamic Clerics. Graduate with a Bachelors degree in Islamiat, Rehman was a member of the National Assembly between 1988 and May 2018 and previously served as Leader of the Opposition from 2004 to 2007.
After his father Mufti Mahmud's death, at the age of 27, Rehman began his political career as the secretary general of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam in 1980. Rehman is two time elected member of the National Assembly of Pakistan.
Rehman led several anti-American protests and pro-Taliban rallies in the major cities of Pakistan following the war in Afghanistan in 2001. He criticised President of United States George W. Bush, and threatened to launch jihad against the United States if the bombings continued.
In October 2001, Pervez Musharraf placed Fazal under house arrest in his native village Abdul Khel for inciting the citizens of Pakistan against the armed forces of Pakistan and for trying to overthrow the government of Pakistan. Later in March 2002, Fazal was set free and the cases against him were withdrawn.
Protest against Imran Khan
The anti-government protest is likely to be one of the biggest in the country, surpassing the numbers of the 2014 'dharna' held against the then Pakistani government led by Nawaz Sharif. The purpose of the march is to dethrone Imran Khan, who has formed his government for just over a year, however, Imran Khan had made it clear on many occasions that he will not step down from his post due to pressure from the opposition.
