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Friday March 29, 2024

With a bishop on board, JUI-F paddles on its ‘soft image’ boat

By Zia Ur Rehman
March 24, 2017

Bishop Nazir Alam joins religious party; Maulana Fazlur Rehman describes his inclusion as good omen for interfaith harmony

Continuing to make inroads among non-Muslim communities, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl succeeded in bringing a bishop in Karachi into the party’s fold on Thursday.

In the presence of party chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Bishop Nazir Alam, a Christian cleric and activist, joined the JUI-F, a religious party whose members are primarily Muslims by default.

“I am really inspired by the JUI-F’s politics and its policies on non-Muslim communities in the country,” Alam told reporters on the occasion.

He added that he was already working on bridging differences between Islam and other faiths and had found that the JUI-F was the only party that give due representation to non-Muslim communities at every forum, especially in parliament.

“Many non-Muslims including Christians, Hindus and Sikhs are joining the party.”

Welcoming the bishop’s inclusion in the party, Rehman described it as a good omen for the country, humanity and interfaith harmony.

Rehman said his party had always raised its voice for non-Muslims’ rights and given them respect and honour.

“Our party is not against the rights of non-Muslims. In fact, it practically speaks up for their rights,” he added.

Giving the example of the nationalisation of Christian missionary schools during Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s regime, Rehman said at that time his father Mufti Mehmood, who was the chief minister of the then NWFP, had opposed the move. He said Islam did not allow anyone to spread hatred.   

 

New trend?

The JUI-F and the Jamaat-e-Islami are the only two religious parties with thriving minority wings and representation in the parliament. Both parties have been trying to show their ‘soft image’ by taking members of the minority communities on board.

Asiya Nasir, a Christian woman from Balochistan, is associated with the JUI-F and currently serving as an MNA on its ticket. She came into limelight with her harsh speech in the National Assembly after the assassination of federal minorities’ minister in March 2011.

The JI has recently started inviting non-Muslims to its annual congregations (ijtimas).

The non-Muslim members of Islamic parties give sound reasons for joining them.

Younas Sohan, the Karachi head of the JI minority wing, said using the party platform he had tried address the civic issues faced by non-Muslim areas.

“Also, we try to resolve a number of disputes which could result in violence, also those involving blasphemy. With this, the members of other faiths find both protection and respect,” Sohan told The News in an earlier interview.

Zahid Farooq, a prominent non-Muslim rights activist, agreed with Sohan. “Many leaders in religious parties, including Sohan, have helped sort out many issues of the non-Muslim communities.

However, a section of activists believe that a sense of insecurity among non-Muslims is prompting them to join Islamic parties in a bid to avert violence against them.

They also observed that Islamic parties had recently started concentrating on recruiting non-Muslims because their votes could be crucial in swinging the demographics to their side in many constituencies.

There are over 100 national and provincial assembly constituencies in the country where the votes of non-Muslims play a key role in deciding which party’s candidate emerges victorious, according to a 2013 report.

 

Insignificant bishop?

Bishop Nazir Alam has been active promoting interfaith harmony under the banner of the Ulema Aman Committee, an alliance of clerics of various faiths, for the past several years.

However, Christian leaders said Alam enjoyed no influence among the community and clergy members and described him as “insignificant”.

They noted that Archbishop Joseph Coutts and Bishop Sadiq Daniel of the Roman Catholic and Church of Pakistan (Protestant) respectively were the actual influential Christian clerics.

“We appreciate Nazir Alam joining an influential Islamic party, but on the ground he has no influence at all,” said a pastor at a church in Korangi.