‘21st amendment will fuel more militancy’

JUI-F chief believes that another constitutional amendment is needed

SUKKUR: The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) central executive committee believes that the 21st constitutional amendment will fuel further militancy, said party chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Sunday.

Addressing a press conference at the Madrassa Hamadia Manzil Gah, he claimed that most of the religious parties were in agreement with JUI-F over the amendment.

Rehman said that the party would hold a seminar in Lahore on January 22 to discuss the amendment and its impact on militancy. He also foresaw another constitutional amendment to cover issues that have not been addressed in the 21st amendment.

Commenting on Operation Zarb-e-Azb, Rehman said that the army had reportedly cleared most of the areas and urged the government to rehabilitate the internally displaced persons. He further condemned the publication of controversial caricatures in the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, demanding that the French government apologise as the cartoons had hurt the sentiments of the Muslim ummah. He appealed to the public to observe a countrywide protest on January 23.

"Our statements should not act against the unity forged among the political parties after the Peshawar massacre," he said in reply to a question about Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain's demand for banning the Jamaat-e-Islami.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 19^th, 2015.