LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain has asked Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman not to open new fronts against the government as the country cannot afford this at this stage.

In a telephonic conversation with the Maulana on Saturday, Shujaat said: “We should not open new fronts in the country as it needs your guidance in the difficulties it is confronted with. You are a son of a great father who had participated in the national movements for strengthening the country.”

The PML-Q chief offered him to work together for solving the people’s problems.

The JUI-F chief had earlier claimed that he had ended the Islamabad sit-in on the assurance that Prime Minister Imran Khan would immediately step down and new elections would be held three months after his (PM’s) resignation.

“I urge Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Parvaiz Elahi to disclose the secret he is carrying as amanat [trust],” he said. However, he did not disclose where the assurance came from.

The benefit expected from the Azadi March launched by the JUI-F in November last year against the government could not be achieved, because the two major opposition parties – Pakistan People’s Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz – didn’t extend their support to the cause, Fazl had said.

In this context, Chaudhry Shujaat said: “Maulana Fazlur Rehman often refers in his speeches to ‘Amanat Ali aur Salamat Ali’. On this I will talk in detail to him and find a solution in this regard.”

Published in Dawn, March 8th, 2020