CHIEF of JUI(F) Maulana Fazlur Rehman is in the line of fire these days for delivering a sweeping critique of the government and state institutions. This has prompted Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi to rebuke that he had lost all respect for the JUI(F) leader. Similarly, Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif and several others key figures of the ruling party made scathing remarks about the Maulana during their speeches in Parliament as well as appearances in television programmes.
Difference of opinion and criticism is something else and carrying out personal attacks and controversial remarks about state institutions is something quite different. There is a general impression that the two sides have lowered their stature by openly washing their dirty linens. On the one side, there is a towering political personality that generally speaks logic and on the other side, there are Cabinet members who ought to be given the full respect they deserve. However, the fact remains that the Maulana made casual remarks on serious issues obviously for point scoring. His latest utterances about state institutions and fierce opposition to the Governor’s rule in KP assumed critical dimensions as they came in the backdrop of his highly controversial remarks made at a political rally describing martyred soldiers as ‘salaried employees’, which were taken as insulting to the supreme sacrifices of personnel of defence forces and security agencies. Fazal hurled sarcastic remarks at the Defence Minister on the plea that he should have attended the security meeting in Tehran, forgetting that Turkiye too was represented there by its intelligence chief. JUI(F) has political reasons to oppose the Governor’s rule and imposition of emergency in KP but this opposition should remain within decent bounds as the measures are purely constitutional. Their position demands maturity but the treasury benches too are seen as guilty of indecency in giving tit-for-tat response to accusations from the other side.
