Nawaz Sharif used Faizabad sit-in against institutions, claims Sunni Ittehad Council

The chairman of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), Sahibzada Hamid Raza, has asserted that the current prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, and leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Nawaz Sharif, utilised the Faizabad sit-in to protest against state institutions, according to ARY News.

Chairman of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), Sahibzada Hamid Raza, has asserted that the current prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, and leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Nawaz Sharif, utilised the Faizabad sit-in to protest against state institutions, according to ARY News. Speaking on Thursday during the ARY News programme "Eleventh Hour," he said that the PML-N had assisted the sit-in in getting to Islamabad and had encouraged party members to take part in the demonstration.

He asserted that he had proof of the PML-N's betrayal during the 2017 sit-in at Faizabad, citing knowledge of the protest's PML-N involvement from both General Faiz Hameed (Retd) and former Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa (Retd), reported ARY News. Hamid Raza claims that while PML-N members in Rawalpindi were instructed to guarantee that people participated in the sit-in, the then-Punjab administration assisted in organising the demonstration. The head of SIC claimed that while the goals of the Faizabad sit-in were correct, the event was deliberately ruined by those who participated by shouting anti-state sentiments.

He asserted that while the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) was utilised during the sit-in, workers for the PML-N were also among those who received money. In a submission to the Supreme Court, former PEMRA chairman Absar Alam said that during the Faizabad sit-in, former ISI commander Faiz Hameed put pressure on the media regulatory body, according to ARY News.

After the Supreme Court rejected the Fact-Finding Committee report, the federal government appointed retired Inspector General Akhtar Ali Shah to lead an inquiry committee. But in its 149-page report, which was released on Friday, the probe commission cleared the former intelligence head.

According to the commission, Faiz Hameed was granted authorization for the deal by the Army Chief and the then-DG ISI. The article further stated that Ahsan Iqbal, the interior minister, and former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi were included in the arrangement. (ANI)

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