LOWER DIR: Leaders of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl and its student wing – Jamiat Talaba-i-Islam (JTI) – on Tuesday paid tributes to late Maulana Mufti Mahmood for his principled politics and services to Islam and Pakistan, while strongly opposing the government’s policy of outsourcing educational institutions and hospitals.

Addressing a seminar titled ‘Mufti Mahmood Seminar’ at the Timergara Rest House, former provincial minister Muzafar Syed Advocate, JUI-F Lower Dir emir Sirajuddin, general secretary Maulana Huzaifa, provincial coordinator for international affairs Qazi Ayazuddin, JTI provincial general secretary Farmanullah Advocate, its Lower Dir president Kifayatullah Rudbari, and others highlighted Mufti Mahmood’s lifelong struggle for Islamic values, democracy and national unity.

The event was organised by JTI.

The speakers noted that late Mufti Mehmood introduced the post of theology teacher in government primary schools for the first time, and banned sale and purchase of liquor in the province.

They said Mufti Mahmood was a visionary, principled and multifaceted leader who resigned from the office of chief minister in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa when the then prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto dismissed the NAP government in Balochistan. Despite running the provincial government for only nine months, they added, he set an example of integrity and honesty.

The speakers termed the party chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman “a farsighted statesman, a unifying leader of the Muslim world and a worthy successor to his father’s political legacy.” They said Mufti Mahmood had played a vital role in uniting Muslim leaders and movements across the world and in the framing of the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan.

The leaders urged the youth to stay away from militancy and contribute positively to society.

They said that thousands of party workers from Lower Dir would travel to DI Khan to participate in the proposed Mufti Mehmood Conference there on Oct 16.

The speakers also strongly opposed the government’s decision to outsource public sector educational institutions and hospitals, terming it a move to deprive poor students of access to education.

At the end of the seminar, JTI activists took out a rally from Timergara Rest House to Gorgorai Chowk, chanting slogans against the proposed privatisation of educational institutions.

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2025