MANSEHRA: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman said here on Tuesday that his party would never allow the government to plunder the natural resources and deprive people of their democratic rights in the country.
‘The government wants to divide the nation and create conflict to plunder natural resources. We will never allow it to undermine democracy, politics and rights of people. JUI-F stands firm against such anti-people policies and actions,’ he told a workers convention, hinting at launching a street agitation.
Malik Waheed, former divisional president ofPakistan Peoples Party in Hazara, announced his decision to join JUI-F on the occasion after parting ways with PPP.
Maulana Fazlur Rahman urged charged workers to stand firmly with him as he prepared to launch a street agitation. ‘I see you as the strongest force in the country.
You must stand firm against oppression and adversity, as activists of no other party dare to stand up at this critical juncture,’ he said.
He said that JUI-F was the only political force playing the role of a genuine opposition by raising its voice inside and outside parliament against what he called illegal centres of power, antinational policies and interference of foreign powers.
‘We will not allow anyone to plunder Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the name of terrorism. The province’s natural resources belong equally to its indigenous communities,’ he said.
The JUI-F chief questioned the effectiveness of successive governments’ counterterrorism policies, saying billions of dollars had been received for the fight against terrorism and 13 operations had been conducted since 2010, yet militancy continued to increase and innocent people were being killed.
He said that people were the custodians and owners of the country’s resources, but those questioning the government’s performance were subjected to character assassination.
Mr Rahman said that the government shouldn’tconsider his party to compromise on its principles and deviate from its stance on the enforcement of true democracy in the country, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
JUI-F provincial chief Maulana Attaur Rahman said on the occasion that his party would not accept revival of the status of former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) without taking tribesmen into confidence.
‘PPP and PML-N are two faces of the samecoin, as both have been playing in the hands of establishment. They first changed the tribal status of Fata and now reversed it without taking indigenous people into confidence,’ he said.
Maulana Ajmal Khan, JUI-F general secretary in Punjab, condemned the reported drone flight over Maulana Fazlur Rahman’s residence and called for an immediate end to such acts.
He said that the government shouldn’t cross its limits to compel JUI-Fworkers to come forward for the security of Maulana Fazlur Rahman.
‘We don’t want to take law into our hands. This is why we are peaceful, but we want to make it clear that we wouldn’t tolerate any attack on the dignity of our leaders’ honour through such immoral acts of propagating against him and his fam-ily members,’ he said.
Speaking on the occasion, provincial officebearers of JUI-F Maulana Nasir Mehmood, Malik Waheed and Malik Naveed said that workers of the party were ready to stand shoulder to shoulder with their leader Maulana Fazlur Rahman in his fight for the rights of people.