LAHORE: The Punjab government continued its relentless attack on the chief of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Maulana Fazlur Rehman, and his “freedom march” announced for Oct 27, as more provincial ministers and PTI leaders joined the course.

Punjab Minister for Information and Culture Mian Aslam Iqbal delivered the first salvo of Monday when he regretted that a letter attributed to the JUI-F and circulating on social media, asked seminary students to join the so-called march with bamboo sticks.

“Maulana sahib should shun politics of chaos. Peaceful protest is a right of everybody but if anyone tried to indulge in violence, then law will take its course. The PPP and PML-N have made a good decision of staying away from Maulana’s march,” he claimed.

Talking to the media during an open court at his camp office, he said that the PTI did not believe in politics of chaos. The donations, collected in the name of Azadi March, would end up in Maulana’s pocket and help improve his financial health.

The government wanted to solve problems through dialogue and the message has also been delivered through the media, but the Maulana has another agenda. His problem is not the people, but absence from power corridors, claimed Mr Iqbal.

The firebrand Fayyazul Hassan Chohan, minister for colonies, was next when addressing a press conference he claimed that the Maulana has framed his march for the protection of the “prophet’s honour and freedom of Kashmiris.” Both are non-issues in the current context. As far as blasphemy is concerned, “even the PPP and PML-N say that it was not an issue at all”. In a Muslim society, and under a party as committed to the cause as the PTI, is can never be an issue, let alone a subject of protest, he asserted.

About the other part, the prime minister has been effectively fighting the case at all available forums. His address to the UN General Assembly, his whirlwind tours of foreign countries and discussions with world leaders reflected his efforts. The issue has now been verifiably internationalised. Voices of support for Kashmiris could be heard around the globe; even the US senators are raising concerns over the plight of Kashmiris, Chohan added.

He alleged that in the last few decades, not only him, but his family, even relatives, have entered politics and made money through the JUI-F’s platform. With this empire threatened, the Maulana is out on an agenda of “destabilisation and chaos”.

Not one to be left behind, the provincial chief of the PTI, Ejaz Chaudhry, said that the Maulana could not be allowed to create violence and chaos. In a press statement, he claimed that Maulana Fazl’s politics was based on deceit and lies, which the people of Pakistan had rejected in the last elections. “His frustration stems from being out of power and the unprecedented success of Imran Khan on the Kashmir issue,” he claimed.

Imran Khan has emerged as a leader of the Muslim world, giving the Maulana sleepless nights. The Kashmiris are struggling hard and would win in the end, he hoped.

Published in Dawn, October 8th, 2019