Getting rid of Mullah not possible: Fazl

Says party politics ending now; results of next polls to be entirely different

SWABI: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) head Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Wednesday said that it was not possible to get rid of Mullah, adding that the US would be gone, but Madaris would stay because the students of seminaries follow the true religion of Islam.

He was addressing a public meeting on the playground of the Government High School in Swabi. He noted that even after 69 years of independence, there was no peace in the country even though it is a prerequisite for economic development and prosperity of the nation.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman said the British colonialists enslaved our people and now the US wanted to keep them backward by dominating their affairs one way or the other. “It should be kept in mind that there will be no existence of America on earth but religious seminaries and students will stay on because they follow the true religion of Islam,” he stressed.

The JUI-F leader came down hard on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government headed by his party. He said the PTI was making hollow claims about the change in KP though no progress has been noticed by the people of the province.

“Instead of change, corrupt practices and nepotism prevail in the province,” he claimed. Maulana said the Bank of Khyber scandal was brushed under the carpet in the KP while the PTI chief focused on Panama Papers’ leaks at the federal level. He said the people were aware of all this and they cannot be fooled by such tactics.

The JUI-F chief said there was an ideological war between the PTI and the JUI-F, and this started during the 2013 general election and is continuing. He said that party politics is ending now and the results of next general elections will be entirely different. He predicted that the PTI would face defeat in the next general election in 2018.

“The PTI chief represented Western traditions and culture. We won’t let him succeed,” he declared.  Maulana Fazlur Rehman said it was a big surprise to  know that the PTI leadership first supported the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, but it later started the blame-game for political point-scoring.

He reiterated his opposition to the merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “The government should resolve this issue in accordance with the wishes of the people, especially the jirga members who represent the tribal population,” he explained.

He suggested to the government to hold a referendum on the issue of merger of Fata into the KP so that the people could get the right to decide their fate. Federal Minister Akram Khan Durrani, former provincial minister Maulana Fazle Ali Haqqani, JUI-F KP head Maulana Gul Naseeb Khan, former MNA Maulana Shujaul Mulk and Maulana Attaul Haq Darvesh also spoke on the occasion.