Nawaz, Zardari release: Every movement has side effects, says Fazl

MULTAN: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has said the Azadi March has broken stagnation in politics and shattered the impact that no one can disturb the government at any level.

Talking to journalists here at the Qasimul Uloom, the Maulana said every movement has side effects. He said small benefits of his movement have started coming before the large benefit. He was answering a question about release of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and former president Asif Ali Zardari.

The Maulana said there was an impression that the domestic and international establishment was backing the government, but the JUI-F’s Azadi March shook the government. He said the nation and opposition have the only demand that the PTI government, which was formed as a result of rigged elections, should resign. He said there is no solution to present crisis except removal of the government and electoral reforms. He said the government claims economy is strengthening, but it is speaking lies.

The Maulana said the government has cut jobs in various departments including the PIA and recovered money from downsized departments to show deficit as profit, which is a great fraud.

The JUI-F chief said soon the government will be no more. When he was asked about time frame, he said: "The countdown has begun for the removal of the bogus government. No long time is needed, the government is winding up in a month."

The Maulana said they do not want someone to raise fingers towards the most stabilised institution of Army. He said there is no controversy over enacting laws and bringing amendments to the Army Act. The JUI-F chief demanded that the proposed amendments to the Army Act should be postponed until the election of a new assembly. He said the government has no validation. He said if the present government brings amendments to the Army Act, it would have no validation.

Responding to a query, he said Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari are facing tough time because they refused betraying the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). He said the balance of power across the world is going to change and the CPEC would strengthen the economy in Asia and the Middle East, which is a threat to the United States. "The work on the CPEC has been suspended for the last one year since the arrival of the PTI government," Fazl said, adding that the government has surrendered the Kashmir cause and is just playing politics.

He said the Lahore riots were failure of the Imran Khan government as both doctors and lawyers are respectable professionals. He said the incident has defaced the picture of Pakistan around the globe.

Criticizing accountability, he said it is biased. He said character assassination has been launched against politicians in the name of accountability.