The Punjab government on Thursday cancelled the allotment of a plot to Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) Chairman Fazal Karim in Faisalabad. After cancellation of the plot, the provincial government has also tried to retrieve the plot from possession of the cleric who was playing an active political role in the Barelvi school of thought.
Holding a press conference at the Lahore Press Club, Mahfooz Mashadi and other SIC workers told journalists that the plot concerned had been allotted to the Jamia Rizvia in Faisalabad. He said that the administration has also started construction work for a hostel and the first phase of the construction work has been completed.
SIC workers alleged that the provincial government has cancelled the plot on pressure of Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah, who was a rival politician of the SIC chief. They said that the Punjab government was taking revenge against Karim, as he has announced to participate in national politics in the upcoming general elections.
The SIC leaders said that if the Punjab government tried to retrieve the plot forcibly, they would announce a convention and start an agitation movement against the provincial government.