Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-F leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman addresses a press conference in Peshawar on Saturday. Photo: screenshot
MARDAN:
JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has advised Pakistan and Afghanistan to review their attitude. He also called on “armed groups” to abandon violence, stressing that war is not a solution to any problem.
“Both Pakistan and Afghanistan need to reassess their approaches,” Fazl said on Sunday while addressing a rally at Jamia Islamia Babuzai in Mardan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
Pakistan and Afghanistan have been on the brink of war after the Afghan Taliban launched simultaneous attacks on Pakistani posts across the long border between the two neighbors on October 11.
The Pakistani army immediately carried out an effective retaliatory strike, targeting several Afghan positions. Pakistan’s “timely and precise action” destroyed several Afghan border posts and left dozens of Afghan soldiers and Khawarij terrorists dead.
On October 18, the two neighbors agreed to an immediate ceasefire during the Doha negotiations. The two countries agreed to stop fighting and work towards “lasting peace and stability” during talks brokered by Qatar and Turkey.
Last week, the Afghan Taliban regime once again accused Pakistan of carrying out airstrikes on its territory, a claim that the Pakistani army has categorically denied. Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of supporting banned groups responsible for terrorism in the country.
Speaking about the crisis, the JUI-F leader, whose party is traditionally considered very close to the Afghan Taliban, said that war is not the solution to any problem.
Fazl lamented that Palestinian blood is flowing from the hands of US President Trump, while Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is talking about giving Trump the Nobel Peace Prize.
He said the current government had destroyed the country’s economy. “This is not the Pakistan that the people were hoping for. The nation was looking for an Islamic system and religious freedom,” he said.
Fazl said his party wanted a country where peace reigns and people can breathe freely. The government must give people their rights.
The JUI-F leader said the Constitution had been turned into a toy and instead of the aspirations of the people, the wishes of influential individuals were being imposed.
“Lawmakers were bribed for passing the 27th Constitutional Amendment; it was adopted with a false majority,” he said.
Fazl also claimed that the federal government had suspended the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, apparently at the behest of the West.
