Time to send Imran Khan's govt packing, says Shehbaz Sharif at Azadi March

Hitting out at Prime Minister Imran Khan-led central government, Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif on Friday said that the time has come to send the "fake" government packing.

Addressing an 'Azadi' protest march, Shehbaz Sharif congratulated Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) for the success of the march which has seen the participation of tens of thousands of people from across Pakistan, reported Dunya news.

Sharif said that Under Khan's leadership, poor people have been deprived of free medicine, students have been deprived of scholarships, and the country's economy has been destroyed.

The PML-N leader said that inflation was at lowest level during ex-PM Nawaz Sharif's tenure and that the nation is cursing the incumbent government for not providing them promised relief.

The Azadi March, spearheaded by Maulana Fazlur Rahman, the chief of the right-wing Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F), kickstarted from Karachi's Sohrab Goth area on October 27 amidst a massive show of strength by the party workers from other opposition parties including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan People's Party (PPP), and Awami National Party (ANP), Dawn reported.

The caravans reached its final destination at Peshawar Morr in the wee hours on Friday.

JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman welcomed participants to the Azadi March. He also thanked Awami National Party president Asfandyar Khan Wali, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, PPP, PML-N and ANP workers as well all other parties' workers.

The anti-government protest is likely 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 purported aim of the march is to oust Imran Khan, who has been at the helm for just over a year. Khan has made it clear that he will not succumb to pressure from the Opposition and not resign from his post.