PESHAWAR: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Wednesday called for “transparency and openness” in the country’s mineral deals with the US and other nations.

Addressing a news conference at his party’s provincial headquarters here, Mr Fazl said that the US was showing keen interest in the mineral resources of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while the Chinese and Russian governments were also interested in exploring them.

He said that he wasn’t opposed to foreign ventures but the nation should not be kept in the dark about such deals.

The JUI-F leader said that whether multinational firms or the US invested in the country, details of the government’s deals with them should be disclosed.

Insists secret agreements made at cost of public, national interests always create problems

He said that public interest, especially jobs and royalty, as well as those of the provinces and areas with minerals should be safeguarded.

“Secret deals made at the cost of public and national interests to protect the interests of an institution always created problems. However, if such deals come through parliament, there won’t be any issue,” he said.

Mr Fazl also said that the PTI had not shown any interest in the JUI-F’s willingness to discuss some “ideological issues” about which they’re seeking clarifications.

He said that both parties were part of opposition benches in the National Assembly, so nothing should stop them from sitting together on such issues.

“Ideological differences are not new. They’re more than two decades old. While the PTI claims its electoral mandate was stolen in the centre, our mandate was stolen in KP and Balochistan,” he said.

The JUI-F chief questioned the rationale of the PTI becoming a party to the petitions against the 26th Constitutional Amendment and wondered how the PTI could express its solidarity with judges when the latter’s interest was at the heart of the case.

About the Pak-Afghan issues, Mr Fazl said that the land of Pakistan and Afghanistan should not be used against any other country.

He, however, questioned whether Pakistan could deny the fact that under the control of the establishment, it was supporting those fighting against the Afghan government.

The JUI-F chief said that Pakistan was committed not to allowing stability in Afghanistan and continued to blame others for its problems.

He said that instability in Afghanistan was not in the interest of Pakistan as it shared the largest border with that country.

“We need to review such policies,” he said.

About the resignation of KP’s chief minister, Mr Fazl said that corruption and lawlessness had peaked in the province, while governance and the state’s writ was at the lowest ebb, and if the PTI had realised that, it was a positive development.

He said that his party was going to hold the Mufti Mehmood Conference in his native Dera Ismail Khan on October 16.

“A peace march will leave Kohat for the gathering,” he said.

The JUI-F leader said that his party would use the occasion to express solidarity with Gaza people, who were subjected by Israel to genocide.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2025