Fazlur Rehman to attend JUI-F’s anti-Israel rally in Karachi on January 21

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman will address an anti-Israel rally in Karachi on January 21.

This decision was taken at a JUI-F provincial meeting, which was held at Jamia Madania Islamia, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, and headed by provincial secretary general Maulana Rashid Soomro. After consultation with the leaders of the party and sister organiations, including the Jamiat-e-Talaba Islam and the Jamiat Bussiness Forum, the party decided to organise a ‘million march’ and a gathreing near the Mazar-e-Quaid on January 21 to show its “anger over efforts to recongise Israel”, said a party statement.

Maulana Abdul Karim Abid, Maulana Muhammad Ghayyas, Dr Naseerudin Swati and other leaders also attended the meeting. Maulana Rehman and other religious and political leaders will attend the march and the gathering. The JUI-F has been under severe criticism from the past few days after its former Balochistan chief, Maulana Khan Muhammad Sherani, in a media talk, gave religious references to support the normalisation of relations with the Jewish state.

Although the JUI-F clearly announced it had distanced itself from Sherani’s statement and expelled him from the party for “violating the party discipline”, the JUI-F’s rivals, particularly government ministers, have been criticising the religious party for advocating to recognise Israel.

In the recent past, several religious parties, including the JUI-F, has organised protests against the recognition of Israel by several Muslim countries. However, the JUI-F has decided to organise its “show of power’ in Karachi on the issue, according party sources.