Government Broke Its Commitment After JUI-F Helped Persuade PTI to End Long March, Says Fazlur Rehman

PESHAWAR: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has strongly rejected the federal government’s reported move to impose Governor’s Rule or an emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, describing it as an attack on the rights of the people and an unconstitutional step.

Addressing an emergency press conference, Fazlur Rehman said his party would resist the move through public mobilisation, parliamentary action and legal proceedings. He declared that JUI-F would not accept what he described as an unconstitutional measure and would not back down even for a moment.

“We will directly approach the people and play our full role inside Parliament,” he said.

The JUI-F chief revealed that he had intervened in negotiations between the federal government and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) over the party’s long march. According to him, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had indicated that the government wanted the march to be called off first, while PTI was demanding permission for its founder, Imran Khan, to meet his family and implementation of the court’s decision regarding his transfer to a hospital for medical treatment.

He said both sides had insisted that the other should take the first step.

Fazlur Rehman said he had sought authority to mediate between the two sides and held a conference call with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Asad Qaiser and other senior PTI leaders.

He said he had asked Chief Minister Sohail Afridi whether PTI would end the long march if its demands were accepted, and the chief minister had agreed.

According to Fazlur Rehman, he visited the Prime Minister’s House the following morning and informed the prime minister that PTI was prepared to call off the march, provided the commitments concerning a meeting with Imran Khan and his medical treatment were fulfilled. The prime minister, he said, indicated that a cabinet meeting could be held in the evening.

The JUI-F chief expressed disappointment that the government subsequently moved towards imposing an emergency. He said he had intended to travel to Peshawar to meet Sohail Afridi and other leaders and bring two representatives each from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and PTI together under his supervision to resolve the dispute.

However, he said, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar telephoned him during the cabinet meeting and informed him that the government wanted to impose an emergency in view of the terrorism threat.

Fazlur Rehman said he had questioned the rationale behind the proposed measure, arguing that the security situation in Balochistan was even worse than in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

“If the justification is terrorism, why has Governor’s Rule or an emergency not been imposed in Balochistan?” he said he had asked Ishaq Dar.

He added that his party had opposed the US-led war after the September 11 attacks and would not accept what he described as discriminatory and coercive decisions.

Fazlur Rehman maintained that the reported move against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s elected government violated public rights and political principles. He reiterated that JUI-F would challenge the measure through political, parliamentary and judicial forums.