Expulsion of senior leaders exposed Fazl’s autocratic mindset, says Shibli Faraz

Does Islam treat those who dissent in the same manner the JUI-F chief did, asks info minister

ISLAMABAD:

Information Minister Senator Shibli Faraz on Saturday said expulsion of veteran leaders from the JUI-F over ‘principled criticism’ on the party chief had exposed that the party was under “worst form of dictatorship”.

In a tweet from his official handle, the minister said the termination of long-time party colleagues only for criticising its chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman showed the latter’s autocratic mindset.

His statement comes a day after JUI-F, the country’s largest politico-religious party, expelled four of its senior members for “deviating from the party policy” and for “creating party within the party”.

مولانافضل الرحمن پر اصولی تنقیدکرنے والوں کو پارٹی سے نکالنا آمریت اور فسطائیت کی بدترین شکل ہے۔ فیصلے نے ثابت کردیا کہ جے یوآئی(ف) میں ڈکٹیٹرشپ مسلط ہے۔ اپنے دیرینہ ساتھیوں کی زرا سی تنقید برداشت نہ کرنے والوں نے قوم کودکھادیا کہ وہ اندر سے کتنے جمہوری ہیں۔

— Senator Shibli Faraz (@shiblifaraz) December 26, 2020

 

The JUI-F disciplinary committee took action against Maulana Muhammad Khan Sherani, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, Maulana Gul Naseeb Khan and Maulana Shuja-ul-Mulk.

“Does Islam treat those who dissent in the same manner like JUI-F, which always cities examples from Islam, did with its disgruntled members?” Shibli asked from JUI-F leadership.

“Is this freedom of expression the JUI-F talks about?

“With the distribution of key posts among brothers and loved ones, people could no longer be hoodwinked by labelling the party as democratic,” he added.

دوسروں کو اسلام کی مثالوں کے حوالے دینے والوں سے پوچھتا ہوں کہ کیا اسلام میں سوال پوچھنے پر ایسا ہی سلوک کیاجاتا ہے؟ آپ کی جماعت میں آزادی اظہارکا یہ عالم ہے؟عہدے بھائیوں اور چہیتوں میں بانٹ کر جماعت پر جمہوریت کا لیبل چپکانے سے لوگوں کو دھوکہ نہیں دیاجاسکتا۔

— Senator Shibli Faraz (@shiblifaraz) December 26, 2020

 

Differences were earlier reported between the senior leaders and JUI-F chief Fazl, who also heads an 11-party opposition alliance, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).

However, the crisis came to a head a few days back when Maulana Sherani, who also served as chairman of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), harshly criticised Maulana Fazl and called him “selected” – a word used in derogatory meaning by the PDM to describe Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Talking to reporters on December 22, Sherani also declared the PDM an “unnatural alliance that would soon break up because it has no ideology”. “Everyone [in the alliance] is struggling to come to power. Each party in the opposition alliance has its own set of interests,” he had said.

The JUI-F officials, however, accused the expelled members of “creating a party within the party”.

(With input from APP)