ISLAMABAD: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUIF) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, while coming down hard on the government on various issues, has said the incumbent regime has rendered the Constitution unsafe and democracy a dead body.
“Today the Constitution is unsafe while democracy is like a dead body due to the undemocratic behaviour of the government,” Maulana Fazl said while speaking on the floor of the National Assembly on Monday. He added that the voice of opposition members also goes unheard outside Parliament.
Condemning the assassination of Maulana Muhammad Idrees, the JUIF head questioned whether they were being punished for standing with the Constitution. “My party’s leaders — Maulana Merajuddin, Maulana Idrees and Maulana Noor Muhammad — have been martyred, and we have carried on our shoulders the bodies of 80 martyrs in Bajaur in a single day,” he said.
Fazl said there was lawlessness in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and the government had failed to establish its writ even in his own constituencies. He said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was meant only to bring amendments to the Constitution, alleging that after a volley of illegitimate amendments, the regime was now preparing for further constitutional changes.
He alleged that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leadership was now gradually participating in efforts to roll back the 18th Amendment to the Constitution. He alleged that acts of terrorism have not reduced amid the ongoing operation in the KP province.
He also strongly criticised the government for increasing the prices of petroleum products. “India is also facing a similar situation due to the Middle East crisis, but there is no increase in the price of petrol and diesel there,” he observed.
He recalled that the Indian prime minister sought the role of the US president for a ceasefire after India suffered defeat in ‘Marka-e-Haq’, whereas PM Shehbaz nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize.
He questioned of what use the present government was if it could not control inflation and price hikes and also failed to protect the lives of its citizens. “Our prime minister does not know in which direction he is leading the country,” he said.
Maulana Fazl also criticised the government for failing to implement the recommendations of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), regretting that no progress had been made to implement an amendment to the Constitution to abolish the interest-based banking and economic system.
