Daily Times

MIR ALI: During his visit to FATA after over two decades, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Maulana Fazlur Rehman Wednesday told a huge gathering in North Waziristan tribal region that holding a political rally here will usher in an era of political freedom in tribal areas because restrictions on political activities in the past led to extremism and turmoil.

Flanked by Federal Minister for Housing Akram Khan Durani, JUI-F FATA chief Mufti Abdul Shakoor, MNA Jamaluddin from South Waziristan and other party leaders, Fazl urged the military to stop further operations in the region to win the hearts and minds of tribal people.He expressed the optimism that extremists would stop their activities in the tribal region and country because it werethe civilians who suffered the most.

In an indirect reference to his political ally – the PML-N – Fazl said, “All institutions should work within their constitutional limits and never transgress otherwise there will be political complications for the country.”Without mentioning Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI), he said there are some ‘agents of Jews’ within the country who want to climb to the corridors of power in the country. “In the past, there were agents of Englishmen in the country but now there are agents of Jews who tend to spoil our religion, culture and tradition. These tribesmen will protect their rich values at every cost,” he added.

The JUI-F chief announced that the sprawling Tablighi Markaz in Miran Shah, the headquarters of North Waziristan Agency, two seminaries and the damaged houses of tribal people should be built without further delay. “I announce that the damaged Tablighi Markaz in will be opened from today,” he concluded.

The JUI-F chief was escorted by hundreds of vehicles of party workers and leadersto Mir Ali, a small hamlet in the North Waziristan region, where he addressed a religious conference in Eidak area.

Party worker Malik Saeed Anwar said that Fazl is the first leader of any mainstream political party to visit the tribal region since 1991.

“The visit of Maulana Fazl is a big political show which proved that FATA will be the power base for the party in the upcoming election,” party leader Akhtar Gul told Daily Times by phone from North Waziristan.He said around 4,000-5,000 people attended the gathering, with people from adjacent South Waziristan and Bannu district participating in large numbers.

Published in Daily Times, April 26^th 2018.