Pakistan not 'anyone's personal estate'

Criticising the incumbent regime, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has declared that Pakistan does not belong to any single individual or elite class but equally to all the citizens of the country.

Addressing an event in Charsadda on Saturday, the JUI-F chief stressed the importance of justice, democracy and protection of religious values.

"This country is not anyone's personal estate but belongs equally to industrialists, landlords, bureaucrats and the common citizen," he said.

"Pakistan was created in the name of Islam and millions of Muslims made sacrifices for its independence. Only the religious scholars have remained loyal to this nation," he added.

The JUI-F leader said people vote for one candidate but someone else is declared the winner, while mentioning Sheikh Hasina's controversial electoral victory in Bangladesh.

"We have used reason and love to communicate with the powerful," he said.

"We do not desire to sit in 'this dummy assembly'," he added.

Fazl highlighted the "growing threats" to seminaries, claiming that global forces were conspiring to dismantle them. "Madrassas are being targeted through international conspiracies. This is a continuation of colonial ambitions to eliminate religious institutions," he said.

The JUI-F chief noted that if the 26th amendment as proposed by the government had been passed it would have caused "widespread destruction".

"Government's constitutional draft [for 26th Amendment] posed a significant threat to both parliament and human rights," he said, noting that it sought to strengthen military courts and curb the powers of superior judiciary.

He condemned the country's economic policies, stating that Pakistan was deeply entrenched in debt and ran on interest-based system. "Our entire economy, from institutions to banks, is running on an interest-based model.