DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Chief of his own faction of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Sunday said that his party’s decision about the “million march” towards Islamabad was irreversible, saying “neither do we want to strike any deal with the government nor do we want to give it any space”.

Speaking at a press conference after JUI-F district executive council’s meeting here on Sunday, he said they don’t accept the “illegitimate” government of Imran Khan which had been imposed on the masses as a result of “rigged” elections. “The establishment is responsible for the illegitimate government,” he said, but added that his party did not want any confrontation with state institutions.

Commenting on the prime minister’s speech on the Kashmir issue at the UN General Assembly, the JUI-F chief said that emotional speeches alone were not enough for a just settlement of the Kashmir issue and practical steps were necessary to convince the world about the seriousness of Pakistan’s stand.

“What message the prime minister wants to convey to the world when he threatened to start nuclear war with India and admitted during an interview that the ISI and Pakistan Army had trained the activists of Al Qaeda,” he said.

Fazl rules out any deal with government

The meeting was attended by district chief of the JUI-F and parliamentary leader of the party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Maulana Lutfur Rehman, Noor Asghar Wazir and other party leaders.

Maulana Fazl condemned the assassination of JUI-F central executive committee member Maulana Mohammad Hanif in Chaman. “This killing shows that security agencies’ claim of eliminating the menace of terrorism is wrong,” he said, adding that the masses in Khyber Pakh­tunkhwa and Balochistan had been left at the mercy of terrorists while institutions responsible for providing security to people were acting like spectators.

Commenting on the ongoing acc­ounta­bility process in the country, the JUI-F chief said that authorities at the helm of affairs were using the National Accountability Bureau as a weapon only against opposition parties.

The central executive committee of the JUI-F will be meeting in Islamabad soon to chalk out a strategy for the upcoming march.

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2019