ISLAMABAD: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman urged the Parliament to hold dialogue with the “people of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa” to address their problems and security concerns.

“We will have to move forward seriously for peace in the country. We should hold dialogue with the people of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa instead of using force. We are not sitting here (Parliament) for using of state departments. We want the unity of military and nation. But if the issue of missing persons is not addressed and force will be used against disgruntled people instead of engaging them in dialogue then hate will increase against the army. I still believe that if the Parliament is requested to step forward and go and talk to the people of Balochistan and KP, then the situation can be reverted to normal,” Maulana Fazlur Rehamn expressed these views while speaking on the floor of the National Assembly on Wednesday.

“One side of the segment reached at the end of the limit (separation) while the other at the end of limit of force. Today, the importance of senior political people has been ended and they become powerless. There is need to empower the political people,” he said.

He said that the “government’s writ in Balochistan and KP had ended due to unrest” and that “armed elements are ruling there and collecting taxes”. “They are visiting the villages, patrolling the streets, and are armed with rocket launchers and special equipment,” he said.

He said that there is also issue of capability and powers of the government and the opposition not being taken into confidence. “Our country has become battleground of proxy war of America and China. One country (China) wants to invest under CPEC in our country while other is creating obstacles in its way,” he said.

Stressing that terrorism had become an extremely serious issue, he said, “In some areas, even Pakistan’s national anthem cannot be sung and the country’s flag cannot be hoisted in some schools today.”

He said he would continue to criticise the government and have differing views but his services were available if the country needed them.

Calling the missing persons issue “extremely important,” the JUI-F chief said, “people’s loved ones have been missing for 20 years and they are not told whether they have died or are alive in jail or have fled.”

“Wherever they are, it is the government’s responsibility to inform their family of their location,” he asserted.

“The people should be assured that the Constitution will be followed and under the 18th Amendment, these resources are yours. The state has no right to go and occupy them.”

Maulana said, “I want the nation to trust the army but such actions are eroding that trust,” he said, alleging that “a person arrested a year before the Army Public School attack was among those hanged over the incident.”

About his visit to Afghanistan in January where he met Prime Minister Mullah Hasan Akhund, affirming that he returned “fully successful and apprised the Foreign Office and the authorities” of his discussions there.

Referring to the alleged involvement of Afghan nationals in the Bisham attack, Fazl questioned if it was also Afghanistan’s “responsibility if the terrorists crossed the 200-250 checkposts located all the way from Quetta to Bisham.”

“Where were we?” he asked, stressing the need for the government to “pay attention to its responsibilities as well.”

Maulana also criticised the closure of government departments under the plan of “rightsizing”, arguing that such actions would deprive people of their jobs while unemployment in the country was already high.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024