The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl) on Sunday appeared to adopt a solitary stance regarding its future politics, with Maulana Fazlur Rehman slamming both the incumbent government and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for their respective actions regarding the Feb. 8 general elections.
Addressing a press conference after a two-day meeting of the JUIF’s Majlis-e-Shura, Fazl demanded span elections without the interference of the establishment, adding the incumbent government was incapable of allaying concerns about alleged irregularities during the polls. Curiously, despite decades lamenting the U.S.’ imperialistic policies, the JUIF chief cited a recent resolution passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on democracy in Pakistan to support his assertion.
Meanwhile, said Fazl, his party was also apprehensive about the goals of the PTI and Sunni Ittehad Council, adding this was why it had decided to independently move forward in its call for fresh elections. However, he added, the JUIF would never close the doors of dialogue to the PTI. Lamenting that the PTI had failed to even form a committee for talks with the JUIF, he claimed statements emerging from the PTI and SIC indicated they were not ready to launch a movement against his party.
Last week, PTI senior leader Asad Qaiser had met with Fazl, with both agreeing to mount united efforts against a potential military operation in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. They agreed to jointly fulfill the role of opposition in the National Assembly and constituted a political committee to address various issues between them and formulate a political strategy.
Referring to Vision Azm-e-Istehkam, the JUIF chief claimed there were differences of opinion among institutions on the proposed campaign, and questioned why previous military operations had failed to halt terrorism. He also criticized Defense Minister Khawaja Asif recently hinting at the possibility of staging cross-border strikes to eliminate militants in Afghanistan, claiming this was aimed at covering up the failure of anti-terrorism operations in the country.
To a question, Fazl alleged that everyone in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was “aware” that 10 percent of the developing funding was provided to terrorists. “Are you helpless in front of terrorists? I have many questions but I don’t want to create problems for the state,” he claimed in questioned directed toward the establishment. He also maintained that the people of Pakistan respected the armed forces but this should be reciprocated by the armed forces.