The lone route: ‘Non-state actors creating problems for country’

JUI-F chief lauds military’s role in securing borders

HARIPUR:

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has said non-state actors are creating problems for Pakistan.

He was speaking to the media during his visit to Khalabat Township in Haripur on Thursday. The purpose of Fazl’s visit was to congratulate PML-N MNA Babar Nawaz Khan on his victory in the NA-19, Haripur by-elections.

“Those who created the problems in the first place are no longer in a position to control them,” the JUI-F chief said. “My party has always maintained a firm stance against militancy and will continue to uphold this position.”

He added JUI-F has no militant wing in its fold. “On the contrary, it is a forum for a large number of clerics.”

According to Fazl, the army has played a crucial role in protecting the country.



“However, our leaders have involved the army in Fata and Karachi operations,” he said.

Fazl vowed his party would support the military at all costs.

Seeking clarity

The JUI-F chief criticised Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for saying Pakistan is a liberal state and asked him to clarify his statement.

According to Fazl, Pakistan is an Islamic state. “Some people are shouting slogans for change while others are talking about preserving the old,” he said. “However, what we need is an independent Pakistan that was envisaged in 1947.”

He added the west was hatching conspiracies to destabilise Asia and weaken its economy. “It is using terrorism as its tools to further its objectives,” he said. “We need to protect Asia by establishing our own World Bank so that we can free the continent from European hegemony.”

He said Muslims were going through a difficult period.  “Those supporting Europe and America in the war against militancy are in fact contributing to terrorism,” he said.

Fazl urged Muslims to take lessons from the fate of Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan and other Muslim countries and unite on a single platform.

“Seminaries have been fighting for their survival since the British rule and are now being targeted by the government under the so-called National Action Plan (NAP),” said Fazl. “The government is promoting extremism in the country of its own accord and then blaming madrassas.”

He urged the government to implement NAP in a realistic manner or else JUI-F would be forced to take to the streets.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 21^th, 2015.