DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has said that the government will not introduce electoral reforms or hold fair elections as it itself is a product of rigging.

Talking to journalists here on Tuesday, he said that the leaders of the opposition parties should first sit and lay down basic principles for reform then put forward suggestions for their implementation.

“The basic point regarding electoral reforms which we want to highlight before going to the parliament is that first of all the establishment should disengage from interfering in the electoral process,” he said.

He said the way Imran Khan spoke about Kashmir referendum a day before the elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir it did not match the traditional stance of Pakistan on Kashmir. “Does Imran have a mandate to speak out against the state’s position on Kashmir,” he questioned.

JUI-F chief says Imran deviated from Pakistan’s stance on Kashmir

Mr Rehman said that talking about referendum in Kashmir was a deviation from the 70-year-old principled position of Pakistan and a continuation of Musharraf’s policies. “This is equivalent to betrayal of Kashmiri people but we will not allow completion of the Imrani project,” he added.

He said they fought the case of Kashmir and for 70 years India did not dare to take over Kashmir. “During the rule of this incompetent prime minister, who prayed for Modi’s victory in elections, India changed the status of Kashmir,” he added. The JUI-F chief said the Kashmir dispute should be resolved in accordance with the UN resolutions.

He said even in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, the government formed after rigged elections would not be acceptable because it was not accepted even in the federation.

“We do not consider warring groups in Afghanistan as terrorists at the behest of the United States,” he added.

To a question, he said instead of reforming the laws of National Accountability Bureau, it should be abolished. He said NAB was created by a dictator to use it against politicians.

Mr Rehman said that tribal areas were merged into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but the people sitting in Islamabad did not know what to do next. He said tribesmen were also deceived during the census. He said census was conducted when tribesmen were displaced. “We do not accept such census,” he added.

He said Gilgit-Baltistan had a population of 1.5 million and it was being made a province but the tribal areas having more population were being denied the right to become a province. “We demand that the tribal areas should be made a separate province,” he added.

The JUI-F alleged that Imran Khan mortgaged the country by enacting legislation as per the wishes of the Financial Action Task Force.

He said by-elections were held in 50 constituencies in the country and PTI was defeated in 48 of them.

He alleged that Imran Khan had claimed to eradicate corruption within 90 days but his government broke all records of corruption.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2021