DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Maulana Fazlur Rehman, chief of his own ­faction of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F), said on Sunday his party would no longer tolerate what he called a puppet government being run by Khalai Makhlooq (aliens).

Speaking at an Eid reception at his residence in Dera Ismail Khan, he said if ‘jihad’ was allowed against a “puppet government” in a neighbouring country, how could one tolerate such a set-up at home.

The reception was attended by JUI-F members.

The Maulana said the JUI-F would soon take to the streets against the “puppet government”, claiming that its movement would be decisive. He mentioned the many million marches his party had organised in the past.

Rejecting the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) slogan of change, the Maulana accused the party of dis­honouring country’s women by taking them to the streets and giving a message of vandalism to the youth.

Says his party will soon take to the streets against ‘puppet government’

He criticised the PTI government’s performance, claiming that its wrong policies had snatched the livelihood of poor people and caused economic instability in the country.

The JUI-F chief said all opposition parties had rejected results of the 2018 general elections after alleging massive rigging. Soon after the elections, a narrative was built for rejecting the election results altogether and demanding a fresh poll in the country. But, he added, the narrative had lost its effectiveness once the opposition parties had agreed to take the oath in the national and provincial assemblies.

He said the JUI-F had suggested to opposition parties to continue the struggle for a free and fair election and not take the oath, but unfortunately it did not happen.

Expressing concern over the law and order situation in the country, he said terrorists were now regrouping. The state’s narrative for fighting ­terrorism had become outdated, he said, adding that the government needed to prepare a new narrative based on facts for dealing with the issue of terrorism in the country.

How long Pakistan would continue fighting a war at the behest of the United States, he asked, claiming that Americans were blackmailing the Pakistan government to ­continue the fight against terrorism. He claimed that the US was just looking for reasons to justify its ­military presence in the Muslim world.

“How long will our state blackmail our own people for its strong control and presence everywhere and continue this fight against terrorism,” he said, stressing that people were sick of this outdated narrative about ­terrorism and the fight against ­terrorism.

The JUI-F chief claimed that the Fourth Schedule was being used against religious seminaries and their students. Under a well-planned strategy, seminary students were being targeted, he said and urged the government to correct its direction.

He said his party was loyal to the country and wanted only what was best for it.

Published in Dawn, June 10th, 2019