Fazlur Rehman asks Pervaiz Elahi to disclose understanding reached on sit-in

LAHORE: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-F (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has said if Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi has any ‘trust’ with him, he should disclose it and divulge details of the ‘understanding’ reached for ending his Islamabad sit-in.

Replying to a query about Ch Pervaiz Elahi’s statement that “he could not disclose the conditions which led to the end of the sit-in, since those were a sacred trust with him”, the Maulana said Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi should disclose it now.

Fazl claimed that he had no ‘trust’ with Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi that could be kept as a secret, during their negotiations for bringing the Islamabad sit-in to an end.

Talking to the media after a meeting with Jamat Ahle Hadith Pakistan (JAHP) President Senator Sajid Mir, Fazl claimed that policies of the big parties had divided the opposition against a weak, selected government.

He said Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) had disappointed him and the other opposition parties. He told a questioner that at present, the PPP and the PML-N were not part of the movement against the selected government. “But our doors are open if they contact us, as we believe in strong political opposition,” added the Maulana.

To another question, he said ‘first the Chaudhry brothers should change their position, then we will decide about inviting them to our movement and upcoming public meetings.

He said the JUI-F did not backtrack on its political stance, adding that certain decisions of bigger parties divided the opposition. To another query, he said the serious hiccups which selected government had been facing over the past few months was a result of JUI-F’s Azadi March and even its allies were on the verge of leaving the coalition and expressing serious reservations and disagreements with the PTI.

“After the Azadi March, serious cracks appeared in the PTI coalition government,” Fazl said adding that delay in the fruits of Azadi March was because of political nature of the issues which posed problems in implementation. He said the PTI government had practically ceased to exist, and there was no government in the country which was passing through vacuum. The PTI government has no writ which at present belonged to those who brought it to power.

He said he had discussed the methods for setting up a constitutional and elected government with Senator Sajid Mir.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman announced holding a “Protection of Constitution of Pakistan’ public meeting in Karachi on Feb 23, in Islamabad on March 1, and in Lahore on March 19, in which all major opposition parties would be invited including nationalists like Hasil Bizenjo, Mehmood Khan Achakzai, Aftab Sherpao, JUP, JAHP, and other religious parties. He said, ‘We are going back to people who are the worst sufferer of the policies of the selected government.

“We are trying to change the utter disappointment of the masses with a fresh ray of hope. People are suffering from the worst price-hike, hunger, poverty. The selected government has snatched the right to live from common man and people are committing mass suicides.’

Separately, the JUI-F chief said he was assured of resignation of top three personalities and fresh elections in March 2020 for ending the Azadi March sit-in in Islamabad in Nov 2019. “We did not leave the sit-in empty handed. We were promised resignations of three top figures of the selected government and fresh elections in three months that were to be held in March 2020,” he was quoted as saying by informed sources at a meeting with party officials during a brief visit to Lahore on Sunday.

According to sources, Maulana Fazlur Rehman discussed various organisational issues of Punjab bodies and their preparedness for likely mid term polls.