PESHAWAR: Imam-i-Kaaba Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais and Saudi religious affairs minister Saleh bin Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh will visit Nowshera on April 7 to attend the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl’s centenary celebrations, said JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Saturday.

The JUI-F chief told reporters after chairing the party’s central committee meeting here that the Imam-i-Kaaba would lead the Friday prayer in Azakhel, where three-day centenary celebrations were to be held.

According to the organisers, over four million people from Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Middle East and other countries will attend the celebrations slated to begin on April 7.

Mr Fazl said he had invited Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and parliamentary leaders of various political parties to attend the celebrations.

Asked whether he has invited Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan to attend the function, he replied in a lighter vein: “I am not sure either he is a politician or the leader of a cult.”

He added that Imran Khan himself stated that he did not believe in parliament.

In reply to a question, the JUI-F chief demanded high-level investigations into the controversial issuance of visas to the US intelligence officials and others by former Pakistani ambassador Hussain Haqqani.

He said the central character of the scandal (Hussain Haqqani) had admitted in his book that he had issued visas to the Americans.

“This is a matter of national security and sovereignty and therefore, it needs high-level investigations to bring the issue to a logical end,” he said.

Mr Fazl said there were rumours that the officials of the Black Water and FBI had been given Pakistani visas.

He said the US officials were involved in the killing of Pakistani citizens.

The JUI-F chief said his party would not support 28th Constitutional Amendment Bill in the Senate.

He said the JUI-F earlier didn’t vote for the bill in the National Assembly.

Replying to another question, Mr Fazl said there was no chance of the Pakistan People’s Party making a comeback to the power through the next general elections.

He said it was heartening to see Bishop of Pakistan Nazir Azam join his party along with other members of the Christian community and that he was optimistic that the people from other religious minorities, too, would follow suit.

The JUI-F chief praised the government and intelligence agencies for arresting those allegedly involved in the uploading of blasphemous material on social media.

Earlier, Senate deputy chairman Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, who was also present on the occasion, said the arrangements for the JUI-F centenary celebrations would be finalised by April 3.

He said over four million people would attend the three days event.

Mr Haideri said ambassadors of Islamic countries had been invited to the function, while invitations would be sent to the diplomats of European Union, too.

He said President Mamnoon Hussain would also be invited to attend the ceremony.

He criticised the city district government for removing billboards, posters and banners about the JUI-F celebrations from the city.

Also in the day, the JUI-F workers took out a rally in Peshawar against the removal of billboards shouting slogans against the provincial government.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2017