JuD set to contest NA-4 Peshawar by-election under banner of Milli Muslim League

PESHAWAR: After its participation in the by-election for NA-120 in Lahore, the banned organisation Jamaatud-Dawa (JuD) is all set to contest the by-election for NA-4 in Peshawar under the banner of Milli Muslim League (MML).

The NA-4 seat fell vacant after the death of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s dissident Member National Assembly (MNA) Gulzar Khan on August 28. The by-election is scheduled to be held on October 26.

Gulzar Khan was a senior bureaucrat and had joined PTI after retirement from civil service.

However, he later developed differences with the party Chairman Imran Khan over resignations of party MNAs from the Parliament.

Neither Imran Khan nor any prominent leader of his party bothered to visit the house of Gulzar Khan to offer condolences to his family.

There could be many other issues but it was apparently this reason that prompted Asad Gulzar Khan, son of Gulzar Khan, to say goodbye to the PTI and join Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

Now that the Election Commission of Pakistan has announced schedule for the by-election, almost all the political parties have started electioneering and nominated candidates.

It is the first time that the JuD has entered the electoral politics in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It recently formed the MML for this purpose.

It is stated to be the political wing of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), accused of targeting government and security installations in neighbouring India and fighting Indian forces in Kashmir. It is also blamed for waging the 2008 attacks in Mumbai, India.

As MML has not been registered with the Election Commission of Pakistan, its leadership decided to participate in the Lahore by-election by backing an independent candidate, Mohammad Yaqoob Sheikh.

Interestingly, MML candidate got third position in the polls by securing 4,268 votes. It did better than the mainstream Pakistan People’s Party and Jamaat-i-Islami.

PPP’s Faisal Mir got 2,692 votes while JI’s candidate Ziauddin Ansari secured only 105 votes. The New York Times reported that MML candidate Yaqoob Sheikh was placed in 2012 on US Treasury sanctions list of those designated as leaders of terrorist organisations.

Hafiz Mohammad Saeed is chairman of MML and Saifullah Khalid its president.

Hafiz Saeed is stated to be the most wanted man to the United States as the US authorities placed $10 million head money on him.

The elderly Jihadi leader had restricted his movement apparently due to security concerns but the Pakistan government has put him under house arrest.

He couldn’t participate in any event in the by-election in Lahore.

However, people close to him believe he would soon be a free man and will contest the general election scheduled for 2018, saying they had challenged his house arrest in the court.

Since it was first electoral experience for the JuD and MML, its leaders had gathered in Lahore and utilised all their energies to win the National Assembly seat and reach the Parliament.

It seems the experience was good for them as senior MML members told this correspondent that their central leadership had decided to contest the by-election for NA-4 in Peshawar and nominated Haji Liaqat Khan as their candidate.

Haji Liaqat Khan, 40-plus, belongs to Peshawar but is presently holding the portfolio of JuD head for Mardan region.

Atique Chohan, MML media consultant, said that Haji Liaqat has secured three master degrees from the University of Peshawar in Islamic Studies, Arabic and Journalism.

“He spent his whole life in Jamaat and is a hard working member of the organisation. JuD has a very good vote-bank in NA-4 and we believe Haji Liaqat will win the election,” Atique Chohan hoped.

“Since it was first time for us to contest election therefore we were not aware of many tactics which political parties and candidates apply during election,” he said.

He termed it a “wonderful experience” and said they would be in a better position to contest for NA-4.

Asked how they contested election when MML was not registered with ECP as a political party, Atique Chohan said they had fulfilled all requirements and hoped they would be contesting the 2018 general poll by registering MML.