DERA ISMAIL KHAN, July 15: Militant organisations have become so powerful that they can take over any part of the country any moment, posing a potential threat to its solidarity, says Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman.
Speaking at the oath-taking ceremony of Dera Press Club here on Tuesday, he said that writ of the government had completely vanished in many areas, urging the political forces to join hands to contain the wave of militancy and ward off the threat to the integrity of the country.
He said that he had raised the issue on the floor of the National Assembly telling the legislators that militant forces had become so powerful that they could go out of control of the government and capture any part of the country. The strife in the tribal areas was a conflict of interest among tribal groups, which needed to controlled, he added.
After the 9/11, interference in Pakistan’s internal affairs had grown to such an extent that it posed a grave danger to its very integrity, he said. “We are not working for our national interest rather for the interests of others. Today, the reinstatement of deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry is not the major issue. The burning issue is the growing unrest among the people and threats to the country’s integrity,” he said.
Fazl said that frustration was growing among the people due to government’s policies over the past eight years. The political forces should sit together and give a serious thought to containing the unrest and the growing wave of militancy, he added.
He said that rulers had pushed the country into a cauldron for their own vested interests, and extended help to the US-led forces to occupy Afghanistan. The fire lit eight years back in the name of America’s war on terror was spreading to the settled districts and would spill over into the entire country, he said.
The JUI-F chief said that the Americans had pushed the entire world into fire to safeguard their own interests. He said that the country was passing through a very critical juncture of history because of the internal strife and foreign interference in its political, social and economic affairs.
Fazl said that he had urged the prime minister during a recent meeting to convene a meeting of the coalition partners to discuss the situation and work out a feasible solution. He said that use of force had always proved counter productive and it gave birth to militancy and terrorism.
He said that the military operation would exacerbate the already volatile situation in the tribal territories, adding that the JUI-F delegation was holding talks with the rival groups to restore peace to the Khyber Agency.
Earlier, he inaugurated the Mufti Mehmood Auditorium in the Dera Press Club. MNA Maulana Attaur Rehman, JUI-F leader Maulana Lutfur Rehman, Gomal University Vice-chancellor Dr Farid Khan and others were also present on the occasion.
