ISLAMABAD: Expressing displeasure over the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl’s (JUI-F) criticism of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on the issue of long march, the latter has called for convening another multi-party conference (MPC) to discuss the possibilities of launching a full-fledged anti-government protest campaign from the platform of the joint opposition.

The demand came when some JUI-F members contacted the PPP leaders on Monday after the latter reacted strongly to the statements by some JUI-F leaders in which they had alleged that the PPP was staying away from next month’s long march in order to please some forces to strike a deal.

The contact was established by the JUI-F after PPP Secretary General Nayyar Bokhari issued a statement earlier in the day, terming the criticism from the JUI-F “uncalled for” and “regretful”.

Mr Bokhari said the JUI-F leaders should not issue “objectionable” statements against the opposition parties which had participated in all the previous MPCs that had been convened by Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

Contact re-established after bitterness between the two

“There seems to be no reason for criticism of the PPP before another round of consultation or meeting among the top leaders of the opposition parties,” Mr Bokhari said in response to the reported statement of JUI-F’s information secretary Hafiz Hussain Ahmed who had alleged that the PPP wanted to appease certain forces in the hope of a deal.

Mr Ahmed had alleged that the PPP had adopted double standards as on the one hand, it considered the JUI-F’s long march unconstitutional and illegal and on the other, it was extending moral and political support to the protest. The JUI-F leader had alleged that the PPP had raised the issue of the use of religion card merely to find an excuse to run away from the protest.

Mr Ahmed had claimed that when the PPP faced victimisation despite creating rift within the opposition ranks in order to appease certain forces, the party leaders had themselves came to Maulana Fazlur Rehman and asked him to launch a campaign against the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government.

When contacted, Mr Bokhari said some JUI-F members from Sindh had contacted Sherry Rehman, PPP parliamentary leader in the Senate, in Karachi whereas convener of the opposition’s Rahbar Committee and JUI-F leader Akram Durrani had contacted him on telephone.

The PPP leader said that since the JUI-F was at present heading the Rahbar Committee, it could convene the meeting to sort out the issues instead of going public on the differences among the parties. He said it was Maulana Fazlur Rehman who had hosted previous MPCs and he could also convene another MPC on the issue.

“We are open to dialogue,” Mr Bokhari said, adding that the PPP was still ready to deliberate upon the mode of anti-government protest as they had also decided to go all out against the present rulers.

Sources said the relationship between the JUI-F and the PPP turned sour when the latter refused to participate in the long march and proposed an indefinite sit-in by the JUI-F. The sources said the JUI-F leadership was also unhappy over certain remarks made by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari about their planned long march.

They said the JUI-F leaders had taken a serious note of Mr Bhutto-Zardari’s remarks during his last week’s news conference that he was not participating in the JUI-F’s protest sit-in as he did not want to become a ‘‘maulvi’’.

Speaking at a news conference after presiding over a meeting of the party’s core committee in Islamabad on Sept 19, Mr Bhutto-Zardari had ruled out the possibility of joining the long march.

“I do not want to do politics of dharna. I want to do politics of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto. Why do you want me to become a maulvi,” the PPP chairman had stated in response to a question as to why the party was running away from the anti-government protest of JUI-F.

Mr Bhutto-Zardari had said that he had already announced his party’s “moral support” for the JUI-F’s long march. He said how he could believe that the military leadership would not play the same role which it had played during the PNA (Pakistan National Alliance) movement that led to the imposition of martial law in 1977.

The PPP chairman had stated that he had put certain questions before the Maulana before making any decision regarding participation in the long march, but he had not so far received any reply.

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2019