ISLAMABAD: Addre­ssing the first workers’ convention of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) after its revival, Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Wednesday held out an olive branch to his arch-rival Maulana Samiul Haq, asking him “not to play into the hands of agencies which want to divide the religious vote in the country”.

Maulana Fazl, chief of his own faction of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam and president of the MMA, called upon JUI-S leader Maulana Sami to join the alliance of the religious parties.

“We are open to people like you. We need fair and respectable people to highlight the sentiments of the masses, people who respect Islam and want to discard corrupt rulers,” Maulana Fazl said as he talked about Maulana Sami.

He said: “Now after 70 years these forces have been exposed which want to establish one alliance to counter another. I call upon the religious leaders not to listen to the agencies but listen to what we are saying.”

The convention was also addressed by the leaders of other MMA components, including Jamaat-i-Islami chief Senator Sirajul Haq, Allama Sajid Naqvi, the leader of the Islami Tehreek, and Senator Sajid Mir of the Markazi Jamiat Ahle Hadis.

They highlighted the threats faced by the country in the shape of terrorism, sectarianism, extremism and ethnic turmoil, and accused the global powers of sponsoring these threats.

At the same time they also criticised successive governments for failing to contain the threats.

It was announced that the MMA had finalised its preparations for coming general elections and district level coordination committees were being established to make collective efforts during the election campaigns.

Meanwhile in another development, Maulana Samiul Haq held a meeting with the leaders of several religious groups, including the proscribed Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ), formerly Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan, and Pakistan Rah-i-Haq, the political face of the ASWJ; the Milli Muslim League, the political face of the Jamaatud Dawa (JUD) that has recently been banned by the government; the Muttahida Jamiat Ahle Hadis and the JUI- Nazaryaty.

Abdullah Gul, son of the late Hamid Gul, and leaders of some small Barelvi groups also attended the meeting.

A statement issued by the Ansar-ul-Ummah, led by proscribed person Fazlur Rehman Khalil, said the participants of the meeting decided to jointly contest coming general elections.

The meeting set up a committee to finalise the “political face” of the emerging alliance within seven days.

The next meeting will be held in Islamabad on May 8.

Published in Dawn, May 3rd, 2018