The JUI-F chief is proving himself to be a man scorned. One who is still smarting over his recent failure to secure his home constituency as well as the presidency. Yet this does not mean that his repeated calls for the democratic process to remain a purely civilian affair should be dismissed out of hand. Ditto when it comes to requesting a probe into allegations of ballot-box rigging; even though Maulana Fazlur Rehman did appear to quite forget himself when he was wooing these same ‘engineered’ assemblies in the race to be elected head of state. Be that as it may, where the MMA president has overstepped the mark is by declaring “jihad” against PTI efforts to register and monitor madrassas; as well as streamlining curricula. Despite being in accordance with the National Plan of Action (NAP) Rehman has chosen to denounce them as evidence of the ruling party’s western-backed and anti-Islam agenda. Such a narrative is extremely unfortunate and brings with it serious ramifications. Especially as it had been hoped that all parties across the great divide had learned the lessons of last year: whereby the subsequent fallout of the Khatam-e-Nabuwwat controversy played a role in the emergence of groups with links to religious extremism as ‘legitimate’ political players. While contributing to the assassination attempt on the then man at the Interior. Thus if the JUI-F chief continues along this path, it will undoubtedly be a dangerous one. For while the PTI chairman is unaffectionately known to his detractors as “Taliban Khan” due to his commitment to talking to such groups as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — not forgetting the shameful Economic Advisory Council (EAC) fiasco — Rehman will not curry their favour by effectively inciting violence against the sitting Prime Minister. Rather, the citizenry will be left feeling increasingly alienated and frightened. In addition, criticism of Khan does not mean that a convenient blind eye can be turned to the MMA president’s staunch opposition to registering madrassas with the National Counter-Terrorism Authority (NACTA) or the FATA-merger. This is to say nothing of his well-known and unenlightened views on women’s voting rights. These machinations by Maulana Fazlur Rehman must therefore be seen for that they are. A reckless bid to hold on to power through the vast networks of seminaries in KP and beyond. In short, they must be afforded no currency. Especially as Pakistan continues to shop around for the most competitive bailout on offer. * Published in Daily Times, September 14th 2018.