ISLAMABAD: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Monday said the Interior Ministry's letter to take action against religious and political parties' volunteers was "ill-intentioned".

He was referring to a letter written by the Interior Ministry to all provincial chief secretaries directing them to take action against "militias" established by certain political and religious parties, and the use of uniforms with ranks [on their shoulders] like the country's armed forces and the law-enforcement agencies (LEAs). In a letter written by the Interior Ministry directed to the provincial chief secretaries, the ministry has said the security agencies have been observing that members of militia wear uniforms to depict themselves as members of military organisations, adding the act was a "gross violation of Article 256 of the Constitution and point 3 of the National Action Plan".

Referring to the content of the letter, JUI-F Chief Maulana Fazalur Rehman said, "There is a difference between a party's military wing and its volunteers". He added, "Our volunteers belong to Ansarul Islam, which is the constitutional wing of the JUI, and is registered with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)."

The JUI-F chief further stated that the volunteers were part of his party's protocol, adding that no one had ever objected to the presence of volunteers before.

"In 2001, our volunteers planned thousands of jalsas in the country. At that time, the then home minister had appreciated the arrangements made by our volunteers," he maintained. "Akin to that, the volunteers of Ansarul Islam performed security duties during our 2017 Jalsas." He said that his volunteers were also a part of the security team during the Azadi March of 2019, where they maintained discipline, and did not even break a flower pot. "Such letters are written only to exert political pressure," the JUI-F chief maintained.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020