Expulsion of veterans example of dictatorship in JUI-F: Shibli

Ag Agencies

ISLAMABAD: Information minister Shibli Faraz on Saturday said the expulsion of veteran politicians from the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) for their “principled criticism” against Maulana Fazlur Rehman showed that the “worst form of dictatorship and fascism” had been imposed on the party.

The decision demonstrated to the nation the extent to which Maulana Fazlur Rehman was democratic, adding that he even “could not tolerate” a little criticism from his old colleagues, the minister said in a tweet.

Faraz asked the JUI-F leaders, “who always cite examples from Islam”, whether according to Islamic teachings such treatment was meted out to those who raised questions (about their leaders’ acts). “Is this freedom of expression in the JUI-F?” Faraz asked.

With the distribution of key posts “among brothers and loved ones”, people could no more be “hoodwinked by just labelling the party as democratic”, he added. His comments came a day after the JUI-F expelled senior member Maulana Muhammad Khan Sherani, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, Maulana Gul Naseeb Khan, and Maulana Shuja-ul-Mulk from the party. It followed Sherani’s comments about the PDM having been set up for “personal gains” and that Fazlur Rehman himself was “selected”.

Also on Saturday, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s labour minister Shaukat Yousafzai said Maulana Fazl had proved that he could not tolerate criticism.

“Maulana Fazlur Rehman is on his way to overthrow the government but he destroyed his own party in this connection,” Yousafzai said.