Fazlur rehman’s speech: ‘JUI-F the bulwark against secularism’

MANSEHRA: On the eve of the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in the United States, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, head of the Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam (JUI-F) said that his party stood as the bulwark against secularism in Pakistan. In an address to party workers on Saturday, Rehman said that the US was ‘hell-bent’ on taking control of the natural resources in Muslim-majority countries. While not explicitly condoning terrorism, Rehman seemed to justify the violent reactions of Muslims around the world to what they perceived as slights to their faith, such as the alleged desecration of the Holy Quran in Guantanamo Bay (later proven false) or the Danish cartoons portraying the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

Published in The Express Tribune, September 12^th,  2011.