Daily Times

KARACHI: As the elections approach and political parties step up their campaigns in the city, various religious political parties have also entered the arena by fielding candidates for both national and provincial assembly seats.

Besides the recently revived Mutahidda Majlis Amal (MMA), a range of far-right parties known for their militant tendencies are also in the run for the July 25 election. These include barelvi Tehreek Labbaik of Maulvi Khadim Rizvi; the political front of Hafiz Saeed’s Jamaatud Dawa, contesting from Allah-h-Akbar Tehrik’s platform; Nizam-e-Mustafa Muttahida Mahaz (NMMM), an alliance of barelvi outfits spearheaded by Sarwat Qadri’s Sunni Tehrik; and Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat, an offshoot of anti-Shia Sipah Sahaba Pakistan.

“We will never give an empty ground to the opponents and our leaders will enthusiastically support all Sunni contestants on the polls”, says Sarwat Qadri of the STP.

Some notable members of NMMM include Syed Peer Ghulam Murzawani Shah Gilani from Jamiat Ulama-o-Mashaikh, and Peer Syed Muzaffar Shah from Nizam-e- Mustafa Party (NMP). Other Ahle Sunnat parties including Jamiat Ulama-e-Pakistan (JUP) are also a part of the alliance. The electoral symbol of NMMM is ‘Lamp’.

The MMA includes Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam- Fazl (JUI-F), a faction of barelvi Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP), Markazi Jamiat Ahle Hadees, Islami Tehrik Pakistan, and the Shia Ulama Council. This political alliance of the country’s right wing and Islamist parties was originally formed in 2002 in opposition to Musharaf’s support for the US intervention in Afghanistan. Its candidates won 63 out of 342 National Assembly seats in the 2002 elections. They also formed the provincial government in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa that year. The coalition disintegrated in 2007 after internal disputes and officially collapsed in 2008.

On 9 November, 2017, notable leaders of major religious political parties met in Mansoorah, Lahore, and decided to revive the alliance for the 2018 general elections. The official announcement of MMA’s revival was made on 14 December 2017 at Karachi.

MMA has announced the candidates for 21 National Assembly seats and 44 Sindh Assembly seats for the upcoming elections. MMA’s electoral symbol is ‘Book’.

MMA information secretary, Shah Owais Noorani, claims that the alliance of the religio-political parties is for democracy and would never support any effort to derail democracy. “Karachi and its people want good leadership and MMA will provide that leadership, “says Hafiz Naeemur Rehman,

On the other hand, after Milli Muslim League (MML) that got rejected by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) twice has announced to contest the election from the platform of Allah-hu-Akbar Tehreek (AAT), a fringe religious party that was registered a decade ago. The long dormant party contested the 2013 elections. According to AAT spokesman they have fielded 22 candidates from Karachi – five for NA and 17 for PS. MML vice president Muzammil Iqbal Hashmi is contesting on AAT’s ticket from NA-242 with the symbol of “chair”.

TLP is another far right party contesting in the upcoming elections. TLP, formed on August 1, 2015, is most well known for its widespread and often violent protests in opposition to any change in the blasphemy laws.

According to a list issued by M Ali Qadri from the TLP media cell, the party has fielded candidates from all 21 national assembly and 44 Sindh Assembly constituencies. Among the candidates, the most prominent is Allama Bilal Saleem Qadri, son of STP’s founder Saleem Qadri, who is contesting from NA-246 Lyari.

Bilal Qadri also led a faction of the STP until he joined the TLP. PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is also contesting from the same constituency as Bilal Qadri. Qadri is also contesting from PS-109. TLP fights the polls with the symbol of “Crane”.

TLP chief Khadim Hussain Rizvi is scheduled to visit Karachi on July 1 to step up his campaign in the city.

On other hand, Ahle Sunnat Waljamat (ASWJ), an anti-Shia sectarian outfit, has nominated candidates from the platform of Pakistan Rah-e-Haq Party (PRHP), another newly formed fringe party . The electoral symbol of PRHP is ‘Iron’.

For the general elections of 2018, PRHP has announced four candidates for NA and 17 candidates for PS. Aurangzaib Farooqui, a prominent leader of ASWJ, has been given tickets from NA-238, NA-248 and PS-91 in Karachi.

Published in Daily Times, June 29^th 2018.