PESHAWAR: Criticising policies of the government, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has said Prime Minister Imran Khan has mishandled the issue of appointment of director general of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

“He [Imran] has started wrangling with those who brought him into power,” the JUI-F chief said while speaking at a rally titled “Mufti Mahmood Conference” here on Thursday.

He said the JUI-F wanted the country’s armed forces to be strong as a strong military and economy were inevitable for the stability of the country.

He said the rulers had been running the affairs of the country through “magic crafts and incantation”. He said the government had been enacting laws against injunctions of Islam like that of domestic violence and child marriage.

Says Imran has started wrangling with those who brought him to power

Maulana Fazl claimed that these laws were in negation of the teachings of the Holy Quran and Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him). He alleged that the government was trying to make Pakistan a secular state, but they would not succeed in their nefarious designs.

A large number of JUI-F workers, coming from parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Punjab, participated in the rally.

Both lanes of Ring Road were closed for traffic since Wednesday evening where a stage was set up. The district administration had already closed public and private educational institutions in three kilometres vicinity.

Pakistan Democratic Movement central leaders Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, Mahmood Khan Achakzai and other leaders also spoke at the rally. Senior PML-N leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and other PML-N leaders could not attend the conference because of the party engagements.

Speaking at the rally, chairman of the Qaumi Watan Party Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao paid rich tribute to late Maulana Mufti Mahmood and said the latter had played a leading role in the adoption of the 1973 Constitution.

He said the present government was “creation of rigging” and it was unconstitutional. He termed inflation a major issue of the country and held Prime Minister Imran Khan responsible for the worsening economic situation of the country.

He said that Imran Khan did not enjoy support of the masses and time had come to rid the country of this “inefficient and unconstitutional government”.

He said Imran Khan gave NRO to party colleagues and friends through amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance.

He said the prime minister had during interviews to foreign media portrayed Pakhtuns as terrorists which was baseless. “In fact Pakhtuns are victims of terrorism and they have rendered matchless sacrifices in the war against terrorism,” Mr Sherpao said.

President of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party Mahmood Khan Achakzai said that the region was passing through a critical phase and the situation was very critical. He said that Pakhtuns and Afghans were being considered terrorists.

“We will have to prove through our actions and deeds that we are not terrorists,” he said.

Mr Achakzai urged the JUI-F workers to follow in the footsteps of their party’s founders. He also urged Afghanistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar to protect the rights of women within the framework of Sharia.

JUI-F’s central general secretary Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri termed the Taliban takeover of Kabul a “revolution” and said that three super powers had suffered defeat in Afghanistan. He said the United States and its allies had committed genocide in Afghanistan, but the Taliban continued their resistance against invaders.

He said the Americans had been negotiating with the Taliban in Doha (Qatar) since 2018 and they were begging for a safe passage to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan.

He criticised Prime Minister Imran Khan and the US for demanding that the Afghan Taliban form an inclusive government and said the Taliban would give fundamental rights to women.

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2021