Seminaries should not be made scapegoats: Fazl

Says those who trained youth for guerrilla warfare should take responsibility for the mess

QUETTA: Chief of his eponymous faction of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Maulana Fazlur Rehman has said that seminaries should not be made a scapegoat for the blunders made by those who advocated Afghan jihad and followed the policy of “greater strategic depth”.

“Instead of punishing seminaries, those who trained youth for guerrilla warfare should take responsibility for the mess the country finds itself in,” Fazl told the administrators of religious seminaries and religious scholars.

The JUI-F chief said: “The rule of law should be paramount in Pakistan… my party is the biggest supporter of the rule of law in the country.”



Crediting his party for relative peace in the country, the JUI-F chief said it was mainly his party that had tirelessly worked towards achieving this goal.

“But still religious seminaries, scholars and parties are being targeted [in the name of security].”

“Are right-wing parties being targeted as a result of a few people’s mistakes?” he asked. “Those playing the politics of arms are neither the protectors of religion nor the representatives of Sharia.”

Fazl told religious scholars that the JUI-F history was full of heroic deeds – right from the struggle for independence till the restoration peace in the country.

He said other than Ulema who else could guide the masses in matters of the Sharia.

The JUI-F chief said his party represented the oppressed sections of society and added that peace was the basic right of people.

Fazl lamented that despite 70 years of Independence, Pakistan could not achieve economic stability, adding Ulema did not get the chance to rule the country even for brief time.

“So who is to blame for the country’s woes – Ulema or the ruling elite and landlords who are still in power?”



“The country can only rid itself of corruption if the JUI-F is placed in the seat of power.” “When the Ulema talk about the issues facing the nation, the establishment and the bureaucracy make fun of them.”

Fazl told the audience that the country was heading towards a new future and slogans of Pak-China friendship were finally being translated into an economic reality. Talking about the Pak-US relations, he said that the next 15 years would be very sensitive for Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 6^th, 2017.