QUETTA: The secretary general of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl and Deputy Chairman of the Senate, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, has said it’s the government’s responsibility to expose the elements behind terrorist attacks on him and JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, his first after the May 12 suicide attack on his convoy in Mastung, Maulana Haideri regretted that elements playing in the hands of those forces who were involved in such attacks had not been exposed so far.

The emir of JUI-F, Balochistan chapter, Maulana Faiz Mohammad, provincial general secretary Sikandar Khan and other party leaders were present on the occasion.

Maulana Haideri said the institutions concerned were investigating the Mastung carnage and a joint investigation team (JIT) had also been constituted to probe the incident. However, he added, he had not been conveyed any progress in this regard. “I am optimistic about the outcome of the investigation by the law enforcement agencies concerned and soon the terrorists would be identified,” he said. “We are not aware so far who was involved in the suicide bombing and other attacks on the JUI-F leadership.”

India’s involvement seen behind terrorist activities in Pakistan

He said the JUI-F lost 29 leaders, workers and supporters in the suicide attack, while 37 others were under treatment in hospitals.

“We are with the families of martyrs in their pain and grief,” Maulana Haideri said, adding that the JUI-F leadership and workers were continuously rendering sacrifices for the country and would not hesitate to render more for the achievement of their goal and protection of Pakistan.

“No such attempts could divert or abandon the struggle of our party,” the JUI-F secretary general said and added that blood of party leaders, workers and supporters would pave the way for a revolution in the country, for which the party had been struggling for a long time.

Maulana Haideri accused India and some other countries of hatching conspiracies against Pakistan as Indian leadership never accepted the creation of Pakistan since it was created. He said at the behest of India some other countries were also carrying out terrorist attacks in Pakistan.

However, he warned that Pakistan was a nuclear power and capable of defending its frontier.

Published in Dawn, May 19th, 2017