TIMERGARA: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl chief and Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal president Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Friday claimed Christian woman Aasia Bibi’s acquittal of the blasphemy charge came on the ‘pressure from abroad’.

‘We won’t care about the country’s geographical boundaries if the rulers fail to defend its ideological boundaries,” he told the ‘Ulema Convention’ in Chakdara here.

Religious scholars, prayer leaders and seminary students attended the event in large numbers.

Says won’t care about country’s borders if rulers don’t protect its Islamic ideology

Noted among speakers were JUI-F provincial chief Maulana Gul Naseeb Khan, leader Mufti Kifayatullah and former senator Rahat Hussain.

Mr Fazl criticised Prime Minister Imran Khan’s London-based former wife Jemima Goldsmith for saying that Pakistani government had caved in to extremist demands to bar Aasia Bibi from leaving the country and declared the statement a foreigner’s interference in the country’s affairs.

He said his party would continue its struggle to defend the country’s Islamic ideology.

The JUI-F chief said belief in the finality of prophethood of Mohammad (Peace Be Upon Him) was part of the faith of Muslims, who won’t tolerate any change to the blasphemy law.

He said he had no enmity to Europe and the US but he strongly believed that the two wanted to harm the Islamic identity of Pakistan.

“They (Europe and the US) are after our religious freedom and want to enslave us ideologically,” he said, adding that Pakistanis would continue protecting the state’s sovereignty and integrity.

Mr Fazl said CIA contractor Remand Davis, too, was released on international pressure though he killed two innocent Pakistanis in Lahore.

He criticised Prime Minister Imran Khan for begging money since he assumed the charge around three months ago and said the countries like China seemed least interested in putting anything in his begging bowl.

The JUI-F chief said the poor people were hit hard by the growing prices of gas, petrol, electricity and kitchen items.

He said the man (premier), who had announced the provision of 10 million jobs and five million houses to the people, had been begging everyone for money.

Mr Fazl said the JUI-F had launched a mass protest movement against the government over its failure on all fronts.

“The people will no more tolerate this government,” he said, adding that his party would mobilise the people against the ruling PTI.

The JUI-F chief also inaugurated work on a mosque in Chakdara.

PPP leader and former MPA Bakht Baidar Khan, Jamaat-i-Islami leader and former provincial minister Muzafar Syed, Al-Khidmat Foundation representative Liaqatul Mulk, Awami National Party district president Hussain Shah Yousafzai, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Jehangir Khan and activists of other parties also attended the event.

HOUSE GUTTED:Two rooms were damaged and 15 cattle were killed when a huge fire engulfed a house in Laram Darra Rabat area here early on Friday.

However, no damage to public life was reported.

The residents said they didn’t know the cause of fire at the house of physically-challenged Sultan.

They said the fire killed 15 goats, sheep and cows and damaged two rooms.

The residents demanded the government compensate the family saying it doesn’t any other source of income.

Published in Dawn, November 10th, 2018