Lahore: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has said his party is not opposed to the creation of new provinces or administrative units, but the country’s circumstances and timing must be considered before any decision is taken.
Addressing a Khatm-e-Nabuwwat conference at the Wahdat Road Cricket Ground in Lahore, Fazlur Rehman said September 6, 1965 represented the defence of Pakistan’s geographical boundaries, while September 7, 1974 marked what he described as the protection of the country’s ideological boundaries.
Commenting on the ongoing debate over new provinces, the JUI-F chief said the country had been weakened politically, adding that the state exists because of its people.
“We are not against creating units. We are not against creating provinces, but the timing and circumstances must also be considered,” he said, calling for a national debate instead of imposing a unilateral decision.
Fazlur Rehman said provinces possess mineral resources and, under the 18th Constitutional Amendment, have ownership rights over them. He said political parties would therefore have to play their role in any discussion over administrative restructuring.
Criticising the PPP and PML-N, he said the Pakistan Peoples Party discusses the issue only in the context of Sindh, while the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz remains silent and, in his words, its status was “no more than that of a slave.”
The JUI-F chief also said Pakistan had failed to become a unified nation on the basis of the Two-Nation Theory and alleged that ethnic divisions had been used to fuel unrest in the country.
Turning to the economy, Fazlur Rehman said Pakistan had built its foundations on foreign borrowing. He argued that although the colonial system had formally ended, international institutions continued to influence decisions in the country.
He said Pakistan had been made dependent on loans from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, arguing that if such institutions determine the country’s economic policies, it amounts to another form of colonialism.
Fazlur Rehman said Pakistan belonged to its people and that a country derived its strength from peace and stability, while divisions within society were continuing to deepen.
He said his party wanted Pakistan’s poor to live with dignity and rejected what he described as elite, coercive and power-based politics.
The JUI-F chief also said his party would oppose all movements seeking changes to the country’s blasphemy law.
