PESHAWAR: The interior ministry has warned that there are serious threats to the lives of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl emir Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Awami National Party provincial president Aimal Wali Khan.

In a letter to the chief secretaries and inspector general of police of all provinces and circulated by the ANP, the interior ministry said it had received reports from reliable sources revealing serious threats to the life of Mr Fazl and Mr Aimal.

“It is requested that extreme caution and vigilance is exercised and necessary security arrangements are made at their [Mr Fazl and Mr Aimal’s] residences and during movement and public gatherings to avert any untoward incident,” the minister said in the letter.

Meanwhile, ANP leader Aimal insisted in a statement that it was not the first time that his life was under threat.

It asks JUI-F, ANP leaders to exercise extreme caution and ensure their security

He said that his party remained steadfast, so adversity didn’t deter them.

“Unlike leaders of other parties, our leadership faces challenges head on and won’t yield to terrorists despite being subjected to bomb and suicide attacks,” he said.

Mr Aimal said that he and other party leaders would continue fighting for Pakhtun nation and its rights following the principles of Bacha Khan and were even ready to sacrifice their lives for the cause.

He insisted that it was Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader and former prime minister Imran Khan, who labeled terrorists as “freedom fighters” and acknowledged resettling at least 40,000 of them in Pakhtunkhwa.

The ANP leader added that President Arif Alvi approved the release of over 100 high-profile terrorists after granting them forgiveness.

He wondered where those terrorists were “relocated” to.

“We persistently expressed serious concerns about the release and resettlement of terrorists for political gains and undisclosed support to Taliban Khan during elections,” he said, adding that the interior ministry’s letter confirmed those concerns.

Mr Wali claimed that the chief justice of the Peshawar High Court granted unconditional bail to PTI leadership in cases registered against it but “ignored his writ against the facilitators of terrorists.”

Meanwhile, central spokesman for the JUI-F Mohammad Aslam Ghauri told Dawn that though he had not seen the interior ministry’s Dec 29 letter, such threats were just a routine for his party leaders.

He said that “security threats” had stopped Mr Fazl from participating in his election campaign in the native area of Dera Ismail Khan.

“Our party is facing many problems due to threats to its election campaign,” he said.

Mr Ghauri said that the Election Commission of Pakistan and law-enforcement agencies should think about providing security to his party’s leaders to ensure fair and free polls in the country.

He claimed that a militant organisation had plastered posters in Bajaur tribal district threatening his party candidates and supporters and that showed an alarming situation.

Earlier in the day, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman told a presser in Islamabad that the district administrations had informed his party about the precarious security situation and urged it not campaign for the upcoming general elections.

He warned that if any of his party’s workers was harmed during the electoral process, he would hold the chief election commissioner and the Supreme Court chief justice accountable for it.

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2023