THE MAULANA FOR ALL SEASONS
From being all but marginalised after the 2018 elections, Maulana Fazlur Rehman has managed to use his recent march on Islamabad to make himself relevant once again in national politics. How can one begin to understand the way his mind works?
Whether as a success or a failure, you typecast Maulana Fazlur Rehman at your own peril. There is only one constant in his politics — his tendency to resort to religion to make quick gains or to get out of difficult situations. Otherwise, over the years, he has proven his all-round ability to make adjustments for power — an ability that has earned him both admiration and outright condemnation.
The latest episode in Islamabad adds to the mystery of the Maulana, whose madressah and Deobandi-based support was never in any real danger of erosion in case of a failure of his march and sit-in. The two-week-long dharna encompassed many moods before it ended, rather abruptly, with the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) coming up with a ‘Plan B’, immediately dubbed by many as an exercise in face-saving. This new plan envisaged rallies across the country to block roads, as it turned out, causing great distress to common people.
Back in Islamabad, meanwhile, the debate raged over what Maulana Fazl had gained with his march-cum-dharna. He was credited with playing an important role in helping the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) secure an escape flight for its ailing leader, Mian Nawaz Sharif. And the JUI-F protest added to the woes of an already under-pressure government, to the advantage of a Sharif camp that was looking desperately for an exit for Mian Sahib.
There are some other gains that people like the well-connected and forever-resourceful Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi have more than hinted at. The current Punjab Assembly speaker speaks of a ‘reserved ruling’ by the ‘authorities’ Maulana Fazl was ‘actually’ appealing to. The promises that are said to have influenced the JUI-F to end its siege of Islamabad are being kept secret but, whatever their worth, there is quite a lot of panic in the ranks of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI). This affords a lot of credibility to whatever warnings the Maulana continues to hurl at Prime Minister Imran Khan. Maulana Fazl is either a likely ally or an imminent threat in the Pakistani political dangal (tussle), depending on which side you stand on.
The pull of power has led the Maulana into shaking hands with the unlikeliest of partners. He was once accused of being a sellout when he joined hands with Benazir Bhutto — despite his party’s long battle with those who had the gall to introduce themselves as secular and despite an overwhelming disapproval among religion-based parties against rule by a woman. That is not to mention that one battle in which Maulana Fazl’s father took part had led to the fall of Benazir’s father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1977 and to Gen Ziaul Haq’s long martial law.
But true to the JUI’s crisscross history, and also in line with the tradition of Pakistani politics at large where such somersaults are normal, Maulana Fazl was also there as an important member of the Movement for Restoration of Democracy (MRD) against Zia. This was one of his earliest assignments as heir to his father’s legacy.
As per accounts favourable to the JUI (the ‘F’ to signify the Fazl faction came slightly later), just before his death in October 1980, Maulana Fazl’s father, Mufti Mahmood, had decided to join the opposition alliance against the regime. That was of course after his party, along with many others, had provided Gen Zia with the early support that he desperately needed to settle in. All in the name of religion, which still runs central to the Maulana’s thrust.
The JUI-F chief’s hesitant political allies in his latest adventure, the ‘Azadi March’ on Islamabad, were squarely criticised for being too scared of the establishment’s presence to go full-throttle into agitation. However, perhaps they had equal reason to be wary of the Maulana’s next move, considering his propensity to give in to faith-based sentiment, as one of the reasons for keeping a safe distance from him.