Fazl adopts reconciliatory tone with institutions

As political parties are gearing up for next year’s general elections, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has emphasised disagreements with institutions occur, saying that what is wrong will be called wrong but there is no permanent enmity with anyone.

This somewhat reconciliatory tone comes after Fazl, who was also the PDM-led coalition government’s president, had told a rally in Islamabad in May when the movement was in power that “all institutions should work within their constitutional domains, while politics is the exclusive domain of politicians and if anyone wants to do politics he must have to contest the election”.

Addressing a meeting of the JUI-F central general council here on Sunday, the JUI-F chief said: “We want to protect our mandate. We will not tolerate fraud [during the elections] under any circumstances, even if it happens in our favor, it is a serious crime.” Aiming his guns at the former ruling party, Fazl said that 30 PTI members rebelled in the National Assembly but “we did not accept them there as well”. “The first requirement of Sharia is that we should be its practical example.”

He cited their rebellion as a “sign of hypocrites”, saying: “If there was a worldly profit, they would have agreed, otherwise they would have been angry.” Fazl made it clear that there were no quarrels and riots in the matter of religion. “If there is a demand of the world, our conditions will change.”

Read Fazl holds Imran, his 'backers' accountable for woes

He said, “Democracy is the name of an environment, in which public trust has to be gained and most of the people participate in democracy.” Fazl vowed that his party would remain against unrest and continue to demand peace and order. Without mentioning the suicide bombing at the JUI-F rally in Bajaur in July in which at least 54 people were killed and 200 others injured, Fazl said: “We have passed through rivers of blood, but we are not ready to be sidetracked from the truth.”

On the occasion, he also announced a protest on Friday (Nov 24) to show solidarity with the Palestinian Muslims.
In the meeting in which the JUI-F members from all over the country were in attendance, Fazl was unanimously elected as the amir of the party while Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri its general secretary for a period of five years.

The details of the ongoing decisions would be issued later. According to Muhammad Aslam Ghauri, spokesperson for the JUI-F, the meeting of the Central General Council was held on Saturday and Sunday at the Mufti Mahmood Centre in Peshawar. During the meeting, Maulana Haidari, Maulana Amjad Khan, Hafiz Hamdullah, Maulana Ataul Haq Darwaish and the nobles and administrators of the four provinces as well as Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir presented an executive report.

In the meeting, the current political situation of the country, the upcoming general elections and the ongoing campaign in favour of the oppressed Muslims of Palestine were reviewed. The meeting expressed satisfaction over the reports submitted by the provincial parties and instructed them to speed up their preparations regarding the elections.