'JUI-F's stance on establishment no secret'

JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has said his party's stance on the establishment's alleged role in politics is no secret and that it has always demanded that the powers that be keep themselves limited to the constitutional role.

"We have rejected the establishment's role in manipulating elections. We have always opposed the establishment's interference in politics, and this is our political stance and a political party does not abandon its stance," Fazl said on Sunday while addressing a rally in Hyderabad.

He said the establishment may be a power, but it is a subordinate one.

"If in Pakistan the right to rule belongs to the people, then the decisions of the people cannot be altered. Whoever tries to change the people's decisions is the greatest criminal against Pakistan, and it is this crime that we are fighting against."

He said when India committed aggression against Pakistan last month, it was the JUI-F that urged the nation to stand united against India.

"We suspended our differences because it was a matter of the nation's survival and defence and we fulfilled our duty to defend the homeland.

"We encouraged our army and if our army achieved success in that war, that is exactly what we desire—that you demonstrate excellence in defence, not in politics."

He said if the armed forces play their role in defence then they will honour them like a crown upon our heads. "But if you try to forcibly sit on our heads, we will not tolerate it."

He said God bestowed honour upon Pakistan and upon our defence leadership and that they should be thankful to God for this, and should not turn towards pride or arrogance.

He said today Israel is not only a cancer in the Arab world but also in the entire Islamic world.

"The dagger that British imperialism stabbed into the Arabs' back in the form of Israel still bleeds. But, God willing, Israel will be forced to swallow its own blood and will never gain dominance over the Islamic world," he added.