KARACHI: Chief of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) Maulana Fazlur Rehman has hinted at launching a protest campaign from Islamabad against the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government.

Talking to journalists here on Saturday, the Maulana said he would consult other partners of the MMA to finalise the protest plan against the government which he claimed was leading the country to a “disastrous future” both economically and internationally.

“We can hold a protest in Islamabad and we are consulting other parties in the MMA to finalise our plan,” he said.

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“Only six months have passed and each and every Pakistani is convinced that this government is nothing but a failure. The economy is on the verge of collapse and our friends like China, Afghanistan and Iran are not happy with the country’s foreign policy.”

He warned that the recognising Israel as an independent nation would be the biggest mistake of Pakistan as it would make the country surrender its claim on occupied Kashmir.

Maulana Fazlur Reh­man, who is also chief of his own faction of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, criticised the National Accountability Bureau and said NAB, which needed immense reforms, was taking up cases against politicians in violation of human rights and decency.

He said the actions taken by NAB had put the work of the bureaucracy at a standstill as senior officers were not ready to take initiatives even for development projects.

“NAB in fact is being used as an instrument of revenge against the politicians,” the Maulana said.

“As a result, the prospects of foreign investment in the country are almost non-existent. Our stock market is giving a deserted look and the government has become a champion of borrowings as it has borrowed Rs15 billion so far.”

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2019