Fazl threatens Islamabad march over tribal issues

PESHAWAR:

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has threatened to march on Islamabad if tribal issues remained unresolved, asserting that while his party remained loyal to Pakistan and its Constitution, it will not accept “forced decisions”.

Addressing a tribal jirga in Peshawar on Monday, he called for confidence-building measures, urging the government to address tribal grievances through jirgas.

“If these jirgas fail to resolve the issues, we will march on Islamabad,” he asserted.

“If we can march for religious seminaries, we can march for the tribal people as well. History will remember you as occupiers and oppressors,” the cleric-politician added.

He said that he had consistently participated in tribal jirgas, including during the merger of the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

He clarified that while his party did not oppose the merger outright, it had always insisted that the decision should not have been made without consulting the people of FATA.

“Before the merger, a jirga had decided that the future of tribal areas should be left to the will of the people – whether they wanted to continue under the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR), become a separate province, or integrate into an existing one.”

A referendum was demanded on the issue, he added.

He recalled that the state had promised peace in return for the merger, yet today, neither security nor stability exists in K-P and the tribal districts.

“If there was peace, every individual’s dignity and honour would be safeguarded. If there was peace, human rights would not be violated. If there was peace, there would be employment,” he remarked, pointing to the worsening law and order situation.

The cleric-politician said that Islam was a religion of peace and his party advocates for a peaceful system. “We are in parliament, but establishing an Islamic system remains our firm demand.”

“The Constitution mandates that no law contrary to Islam should be enacted, but we see a democracy devoid of implementation,” he asserted.

Fazl further questioned who truly upheld the Constitution in the country. “When we talk about the Constitution and the rule of law, we are accused of attempting to break the country. The Constitution is a sacred contract.”