Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) President Maulana Fazlur Rehman has left for London, sources within the party said on Saturday. As the country's politics see one of the worst turmoils in history with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) facing mass exodus and clampdown in the wake of May 9 protests, sources said that Fazl is set to meet Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif in London to discuss the current affairs. The JUI-F leader, who is also the chief of political parties's alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) — PTI's united rival, will stay in Britain for a few days and meet his party workers operating in different cities, sources added.

PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s arrest in the £190 million settlement case on May 9 and subsequent violent protests, during which unruly supporters and workers stormed and torched state installations almost across the country, have unleashed a mass exodus of leaders from the party. Several PTI leaders including close aides of Khan have announced quitting the party over May 9 vandalism with some blaming Khan’s policies for the attacks on the military installations.

The latest person to jump ship is party's Sindh President Ali Zaidi, who announced on Saturday that he is quitting politics and resigned from party positions. Nearly three-day-long protests also claimed at least 8 lives and injured dozens of others with the incumbent coalition government suspending internet services and deploying army troops to maintain law and order situation. Following the unprecedented attacks on defence and public properties, the crackdown was launched on the PTI to detain the suspect involved in the vandalism with the country’s top civil-military leadership vowing to try rioters under relevant laws of the country including the Army Act.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP