Politicians must understand mood of nation: Fazl

LAHORE: JUIF chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman has said the political leadership must understand the need of the state, mood of the country and the nation. He said the Constitution has the status of national charter.

He expressed these views while addressing lawyers and party activists on Wednesday.

Fazl said when the movement was launched against Field Marshal Ayub Khan, politics was divided into two parts. “Negotiations were held and two things were agreed upon. Number one is to give the right to vote to the nation and the other is to have a parliamentary system in the country,” he said and added Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s slogan was the presidential style of government. When the interim constitution was given in 1972, the presidential government was kept in the Federation and parliamentary government in the provinces. But when the permanent constitution was made in 1973, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto also changed his position.

“In the Constitution, all the provinces are given equal importance and all the schools of thought are present in parliament and this is the national understanding on the basis of which we are a nation. If there is no Constitution, no province will make a commitment with the country,” Fazl said. The JUIF chief said, “Unfortunately in the country, the Constitution has not been protected.”

“If there was no rigging in 2018, then there is no rigging now. We stand on the principle there was rigging then and it is still rigged. We have fought a hard battle with PTI, despite extreme bitterness. We welcome them. We have our own political culture, we have our values and we have to keep them alive. The Constitution should be supreme, our Constitution determines the principles.

“Islam is the first pillar of the Constitution. This country is not a secular state, it is a religious state. Religion of the state is Islam, the second pillar is democracy, the third pillar is the parliamentary system of government.”

He said if there is an attempt to make a new constitution today, there will not be much left. These are not simple things. They have to think deeply whether the decision should be made by people or by the establishment.