PESHAWAR:
Distancing himself from religious militancy, Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said his party believed in struggle within the ambit of law and did not support armed movements.
In an apparent reference to the Taliban, Maulana said that if someone questions the JUI-F stance of not backing an armed struggle, then they should be mindful that JUI-F would continue with its legacy of political struggle.
Addressing the Mufti Mahmood Conference in Shahi Bagh, Rehman said that Pakistani and Afghan Taliban were not the same and should be differentiated as such.
“We cannot impose our opinion on the Afghan people and they have a right to fight,” he said, adding that the JUI-F considers the Afghan Taliban’s war as a defence of their land, religion and freedom and that their struggle constitutes legitimate resistance.
However, he emphasised that Pakistan was “a different case”. There is no unified Taliban organisation in Pakistan as compared to in Afghanistan, he said.
“The Afghan Taliban are unified and have leadership, but in the case of the Pakistani Taliban every village has its own organisation and leadership,” Rehman said.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 24th, 2011.
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He replaced JI as the darling of establishment. So please see his statements through that perspective as guys like him would never ever his own say.
Does any one believe him ? ISnt he the channel thru which taliban was recruiting the cannon fodder
He has a solution for every issue and he contradicts himself in every statement.His good Taliban only kills our army personels.He tells us that Haqani is the follower of Mullah Omer.In the same breath he tells us Mullah Omar is a staunch follower of Alqaida.What is this?Who he is trying to confuse?The fact is that he never states the fact or is it other way around.?
What do you mean they are not the same? People die at the hands of both! What other differences matter!
For the first time in his whole life he has said something worth appreciating.