LAHORE: The two emerging groups of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) began accusing each other of wrongdoings that were leading the alliance towards a break-up, as the alliance of over 20 Barelvi parties was faced with an imminent division in two groups because of Chairman Fazal Kareem’s arbitrary handling of the political decision making. The split surfaced on Tuesday when JUP-Sawad Azam chief Pir Mehfooz Mashadi called a meeting of about 11 parties of the 24 parties’ alliance in which he was nominated as president in place of Fazal Kareem. The move came shortly after Fazal Kareem held a joint press conference with the top PML-Q leadership in Faisalabad, announcing that the SIC would jointly contest the coming elections with the PML-Q on seat adjustment basis. On Wednesday, both sides entered into a war of words, as each claimed to enjoy the majority support among the SIC and announced to show its political power within the SIC by calling a meeting of the SIC Central Executive and Shoora shortly. The Mashadi-led faction called its meeting of the Central Executive and Shoora on Sunday in Lahore while Fazal Kareem-led faction was likely to hold a parallel meeting on Monday. Mashadi has constituted a contact committee led by Markazi Jamaat Ahle Sunnat Nazim Aala Pir Irfan Shah Moosvi to coordinate with the leaderships of the SIC component parties besides members of the CEC and Shoora, and ensure their participation in Sunday’s meeting. Mashadi group’s Media Secretary Shahid Hussain Gardezi told The News that all major component parties of the SIC, including Sunni Tehrik, JUP-SA, Jamaat Ahle Sunnat (JAS), Aalmi Tanzim Ahle Sunnat (ATAS), Tazimul Madaris and ATI etc had already disowned the political alliance with the PML-Q, as announced by Fazal Kareem. The leaders of the new group accused Fazal Kareem of selling the SIC objectives and bloody sacrifices of workers and leaders like Shaheed Dr Sarfraz Naeemi by joining hands with that party which had subjected to Dr Naeemi and scores of SIC workers to police torture, detention and false cases. Gardezi, while quoting all top leaders of anti-Fazal parties, said Fazal Kareem refused to show the audit of the alliance funds, and refrained from replying to accusations by the US Embassy that he reportedly received 3.6 million dollars to divert the SIC movement into an anti-Taliban campaign. He said the patience level of the SIC leaders and workers had hit the roof as Fazal Kareem used the SIC for materialising his personal objectives and those of his close aides. Gardezi said the SIC leaders had accused Fazal Kareem of hijacking the alliance and taking major decisions dictatorially without taking the allies into confidence which, they said, amounted to a breach of the SIC code of conduct. They alleged that Fazal Kareem decided to make seat adjustments with the PML-Q without discussing it in the SIC summit meeting or the central shoora and executive council. On the other hand, Fazal Kareem Group Media Secretary Nawaz Kharal alleged that the entire hue and cry against Fazal Kareem was raised by those leaders whose popularity was fast dwindling and they were losing the mass support. He said the rebel leaders were opposing the alliance with the PML-Q only for realising their personal motives and interests.
