SUKKUR: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said on Thursday when people of a province were marching on Islamabad they were welcomed into the capital but when they reached their destination, D-Chowk, they were greeted with fire. What would have happened if they had sat there for three or four days, he raised question.

He said that his party would not sit silently till elections were held fairly in the country as the present assemblies were not peoples’ representative. The assemblies were rather representatives of the establishment hence his party did not accept them, he said.

The Maulana was speaking at ‘Sindh Bab ul-Islam’ conference at midnight of Thursday and Friday here in Sukkur. They had not accepted February 2024 elections as “we had [actually won] 16 seats but these [seats] were later reduced to eight by stealing our mandate”, he said.

He said that the centre now complained of “invasion” by [rulers of] a province though it had itself allowed them to form government. When they handed over power to such incompetent people then they must understand it would have consequences, he said.

He said that protesters were political workers, what would have happened if they had sat there for three or four days. “We are not responsible for the decisions taken by a party but if it seeks our advice, we will give it to them honestly,” he said.

The Maulana said that an attempt was made in every election to form such assemblies, which were manageable by powers that be. “When discussions were being held on the 26th amendment, they wanted it to be passed that very day but we insisted on seeing the draft first, which was then handed over to us after three nights,” he said.

He said the draft initially contained 55 clauses which they studied and found that the proposed changes were rather cobra snakes with which the nation was going to be stung.

He disclosed that the proposed changes ran counter to basic human rights as enshrined in the constitution, reduced democratic system to bare minimum and clipped judiciary’s wings but they [JUI] succeeded in persuading them to bring the changes down from 55 to 22.

“When a mutually acceptable draft was finalised, we added five more clauses to it to fulfill the wishes of religious class,” he said.

He said the constitution had been turned into a joke and recalled that this mockery had been first made by Gen Ziaul Haq and continued by Musharraf and other generals.

He said that Islam guaranteed protection to human rights and a strong economy based on principles of social justice. “Generals cannot beautify this country by merely wearing military uniforms and adorning their chests with medals and badges,” but his party could do it with divine help, he said.

He asked President Asif Zardari as to why the bill regarding madrasas was not being signed even though leadership of PPP and PML-N had agreed on it. “If it is not signed soon enough, JUI [activists] will head towards Islamabad in December,” he warned.

Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2024