Fazl urges restraint amid border tensions

JUI-F chief says conflict serves neither nation; calls for peace and policy review

DERA ISMAIL KHAN:

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said on Thursday that fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan was not in the interest of either country and urged that, along with a ceasefire, there should also be restraint in rhetoric.

Addressing the Mufti Mehmood Conference, which was attended by thousands of people from Dera Ismail Khan, Tank, Lakki, Bannu, Karak and other districts, he said Pakistan's neighbours were progressing rapidly, while the country continued to sink deeper into debt.

Fazl said the Western world was perturbed over the restoration of Islamic rule in Afghanistan and the establishment of the Islamic Emirate there. Criticising the Pakistani government, he said it should not look towards others but correct its own course.

He said people wanted peace in the region and wished to see Pakistan as a peaceful and prosperous state, adding that peace would bring economic development. He warned the rulers to review their policies.

Fazl declared that his party would not allow Pakistan to recognise Israel. Quaid-i-Azam had declared Israel an illegitimate state after its creation, but those who called themselves followers of the Quaid were trampling his principles and decisions, he said.

He added that Israel, upon its creation, had declared the destruction of a newborn country as its mission - and that newborn country was Pakistan.

As long as the JUI lived, he said, no power in the world would be able to compel Pakistan to recognise Israel.

He said the country was passing through a highly critical phase which it could not afford to prolong, adding that Pakistan - created through the people's sacrifices - would not be allowed to lose its purpose.

Fazl said the importance of parliament had been eroded and reduced to a subservient house. "The Constitution, Islam, the Quran and Sunnah are our democracy," he said, adding that Pakistan had been bifurcated in the past for not accepting the will of the majority, but "we will not let it happen again."