Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has said that the PTI government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is fake and a product of the 'Form 47'.
Talking to the media in Peshawar, Fazlur Rehman said his party did not compromise on the ideology of its elders and predecessors, adding that making Pakistan an Islamic state by constitutionally determining its ideological basis was the parliamentary role of their elders.
The JUI chief said that the country's democracy and parliamentary politics were subpar, and thousands of questions were being raised on them. "You don't give up on the system and faith on the basis of weaknesses," he stressed.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman further remarked that if the state and religion are linked, religious hatred and sectarianism cast a negative impact on the state. He declared that there should be no relationship between religion and state.
He said there had been occasions in the parliamentary life when this topic had come up for discussion. "Our position has been that the political leadership of all schools of thought always played the role of religious harmony. After the formation of Pakistan, the first document passed by the assembly was the Objectives Resolution. In 1951, a gathering of the leadership of scholars of all schools of thought was held, and 22 Islamic provisions of governance were formulated to guide the country towards an Islamic system," he recalled.
Regarding the Kurram issue, the Maulana said the warring tribes had been fighting for more than 20 years. He further said that if it was a sectarian issue, then Hangu, another Shia-Sunni area, was located close to Kurram and a road passed through the Shia population to reach Kohat, which also had both Shia and Sunni population.
"Why is it that the dispute in Kurram did not reach Hangu and Kohat or even Dera Ismail Khan and Peshawar, but its heat was felt in Karachi, Lucknow, and Tehran?" he questioned.
Fazl claimed to know what the problem was as well as its solution. "The issue is being fanned. On whose instructions do the involved organisations holding press conferences come forward? How long will you continue to mislead society? As soon as we suggested a path ahead, riots started again the next day. When we intervene to resolve the issues, we're asked who we are to do so, and we are accused of incitement."
The JUI chief added that he recommended the sides involved against the use of weapons and instead act with patience and tolerance. He also observed that the scope of immunity was expanded in the 26th Amendment, to which his party had refused.
"Finally, they had to withdraw. Our courts were made into a joke, and the power to change the judges of the high court was being retained in our own hands," he added.
He remarked that he had advocated for judicial reform. "If the military sends a message to any court that this case falls under their jurisdiction, it is transferred to them. We got 34 articles withdrawn from the constitutional amendment consisting of 56 articles."
