JUI-F chief rejects talks offer by govt

PESHAWAR: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman has rejected the talks offer made by the government and said they can engage in dialogues only after the resignation of the rulers. "We are out to save the country and its ideology and for the purpose, getting rid of the present rulers is a must," he said while addressing a function to celebrate the golden jubilee of Jamiat Talaba-i-Islam (JTI), the student wing of JUI-F, here on Thursday.

He said the government should tender resignation before the "sea of people" enters Islamabad on October 31 to oust the rulers from corridors of power. The JUI-F chief said that they would reach the federal capital for the "Azadi March" at all costs. The government has been putting pressure on public transporters not to rent out vehicles to the JUI-F, he claimed.

"If they stop buses, our workers would reach the federal capital on bicycles, camels, horses and mules," he added.

The Maulana blasted the government for what he termed its incompetence and illegality. He said the government had failed outright on all fronts. "The country is facing the worst economic crisis due to the flawed policies of the rulers," he said and added that when the economic situation of a country worsens to this extent, it may face geographical changes.

"The business community is closing down units. When factories are closed, prices of essential items will go up," he maintained.

The Maulana said the government was responsible for the situation in Kashmir. He said that the speech of the prime minister at the UN General Assembly was a failure, not a success. Had it been successful, it would have resulted in the liberation of Kashmir or at least providing relief to the people of the held valley, he said.

"But everybody knows that the government has compromised on Kashmir," he added. He asked the security forces and the state institutions to stay impartial and stop interfering in political matters. "We don't want to have a confrontation with the state institutions," he said.

The Maulana urged a segment of retired people to stop teaching political leaders as to how to do politics, adding that politics is not the job of retired people. “Today we see some people talking about recognising Israel. We would never allow this in our life," he declared.

Regarding the JUI-F's volunteers, he said that Ansarul Islam was a registered organisation of volunteers. "It provides security to the JUI-F gatherings as police are already overburdened and they don't want to put more burden on them," he said.

He said that JUI-F had so far arranged 15 'million marches' across the country in nine months, which remained completely peaceful. "No one can say that volunteers of Ansarul Islam have ever taken the law into their hands," the JUI-F chief said.

But no-one can deny the hooliganism of the PTI workers during their so-called sit-in. They had even beaten up senior police cops to severe injuries besides attacking important government installations like the parliament, the Supreme Court building, PTV and others, he recalled.

"We didn't take arms in the name of the Taliban, though we rendered great sacrifices when we opposed the suicide bombings," the Maulana remarked. The function was also addressed by former chief minister Akram Khan Durrani, provincial spokesperson of the party Abdul Jalil Jan and others.