LARKANA: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, addressing what appeared to be one of the biggest gatherings organised by the party in Sindh, on Sunday threw his party’s weight behind the army chief “in defending every inch of the country’s territory” in the face of a threat from the US and its allies.

Besides him, a host of leaders including Senate Deputy Chairman Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidery, Maulana Saeed Yousuf, Maulana Mohammed Amjad Khan, Syed Salman Gillani, Nayab Sarkash Sindhi (of the Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz), Qari Mohammed Usman, Malik Sikandar (from Balochistan), Rashid Mehmood Soomro and Nasir Mehmood Soomro spoke to the participants at the gathering titled ‘Shaheed-i-Islam conference’ held to pay tribute to JUI-F leader Dr Khalid Mehmood Soomro on his first death anniversary.

The conference was held in the Peoples Stadium which was packed with JUI-F leaders, activists and supporters who came from across the country. Delegations from from other countries including the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Qatar and Dubai also participated in the conference.

The JUI-F chief paid tribute to Dr Soomro for his services to Islam, the Ummah and Pakistan, and strongly condemned his assassination which, he said, was part of the West’s conspiracy to replace Muslim rulers with liberal ones around the world. He also made mention of terrorist attacks on himself, Akram Khan Durrani and other JUI-F leaders as well as ulema over the past few years in the country.

“We see the current Russia-Turkey tension with concern. Turkey, which is on the path of progress and development is being pushed into a war. The ongoing military strikes by Western forces are targeted against Asia and aimed at weakening Asian states’ economies. Actually, it’s a war for economic interests,” Maulana Fazl told the audience. In this context, he referred to the West’s military adventures in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and other Islamic states.

“The US-led Europe is bent upon snatching Islamic states’ right to rule over their respective territories. It has unleashed a propaganda based on wrong perception of Islam,” he said.

Maulana Fazl said his party valued China’s friendship with Pakistan. “We as an independent country must have a political and economic system of our own choice and the JUI-F wants the state to run it without any external influence,” said the Maulana.

Liberalism and extremism

The JUI-F chief lashed out at liberalism and liberal forces within Pakistan, and observed that the forces advocating and supporting liberalism and secularism failed to maintain their foothold within their areas of influence for long.

Turning to neighbouring India, Maulana Fazl said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was losing his popularity due to the wave of religious extremism in his country. He in the same breath added that religious institutions, ulema and their followers were also enduring undue pressures.

“It’s a testing time given the world scenario and conspiracies against the Islamic world and Pakistan,” he said, and addressing Chief of the Army Staff General Raheel Sharif and the establishment extended his party’s unequivocal support to him in the face of any external aggression.

“Ulema and each and every JUI-F worker will be with you [the COAS] to protect every inch of the country’s territory,” and cautioned him that he might not find liberals at his side in the event of aggression. “Let’us run country according to the Constitution,” he added.

Seeing the Peoples Stadium packed to its capacity and thousands of other people stuck outside on the roads leading to it, Maulana Fazl said this gathering was the ‘biggest revenge’ for Dr Soomro’s assassination. “The killers are mistaken to think that they have silenced Dr Soomro by taking his life ... his voice still echoes all around today,” he remarked.

Senate Deputy Chairman Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidery said this grand assembly was a clear message to the assassins that this religious force stood unshaken. Eliminating a great religious scholar could not hinder JUI-F’s journey to its destination.

He endorsed his party chief’s view that the US-Nato forces were eyeing Pakistan’s natural resources.

Mufti Hanif Jullundhari from Lahore told the audience that the Constitution and the [ruling party] Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz manifesto did not subscribe to secularism or liberalism. He criticised “poor” governance and said the judiciary and army both had asked the federal government to improving it.

Resolutions

The conference adopted several resolutions which were passed by the participants by raising their hands.

The resolutions demanded effective measures by the government to bring an end to tribal clashes in Sindh, fixing of reasonable support prices for paddy, wheat and sugarcane to save growers from losses, shelving of the Kalabagh Dam project and exposing and arresting attackers of Akram Khan Durrani.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman also performed the launch of a book comprising Dr Khalid Mehmood Soomro’s speeches.

Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2015