Fazl hints at street agitation at Mansehra workers' convention

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said in Mansehra on Tuesday that his party would not let the government “plunder” the country’s natural resources or take away people’s democratic rights, and hinted that he would launch a street agitation, Dawn reported.

What he said

Speaking at a workers’ convention, Fazlur Rehman said: “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.” He urged the party’s workers to stand firm “as I prepare to launch a street agitation”, and told them: “I see you as the strongest force in the country.” He did not give a date or a route for any protest.

He described the JUI-F as the only party playing the role of a genuine opposition, raising its voice inside and outside parliament against what he called anti-national policies and interference by foreign powers. On Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he said: “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.” These are his claims; the government’s side is that governor’s rule and the emergency in the province are about restoring peace, and that the people of each province have the first right to their minerals. Our report on the minister’s statement on governor’s rule and minerals sets out that position.

Counterterrorism and the tribal areas

The JUI-F chief questioned how effective successive governments’ counterterrorism policies had been. Billions of dollars had been received for the fight against terrorism and 13 operations had been conducted since 2010, he said, yet militancy kept growing and innocent people kept dying. People who question the government’s performance, he added, were subjected to “character assassination”.

JUI-F’s provincial chief, Maulana Attaur Rahman, said the party would not accept the revival of the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) status without taking tribesmen into confidence. He accused the PPP and the PML-N of being “two faces of the same coin”. Fata was merged into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa earlier; the reports we drew on do not say what measure he was referring to when he spoke of its status being “reversed”.

A defection and a complaint

Malik Waheed, a former PPP divisional president in Hazara, announced at the convention that he was leaving the PPP to join the JUI-F. JUI-F’s Punjab general secretary, Maulana Ajmal Khan, condemned what he called a reported drone flight over Fazlur Rehman’s residence and said the government should not push the party’s workers to come out for their leader’s security. “We don’t want to take law into our hands,” he said. The reports do not say who flew the drone or whether the authorities have responded.

Background

A week ago Fazlur Rehman proposed a new Charter of Democracy to the government and opposition; read our report on Fazl’s call for a new Charter of Democracy and the PTI’s consultations, and on his earlier remarks about governor’s rule and minerals. An All Parties Conference of the opposition was under consideration for November 9 and 10.

Why it matters

A hint is not a plan: no date, route or demand for the protest has been announced. A convention in Hazara with a fresh defector from the PPP does show the JUI-F wants to display its organisational strength. The key questions are whether the party announces a date for street action, whether it does so alone or with the PTI and others at the planned conference, and how the government answers his argument that counterterrorism operations have not worked.

This article draws on reporting by Dawn.