Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

India-Pakistan

PM Shehbaz commends Dr Zakir Naik for promoting Islam worldwide

2024-10-03

[GEO.TV] Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday lauded eminent scholar Dr Zakir Naik’s exceptional efforts in spreading the true teachings of the Holy Quran and Hadith, besides promoting Islamic values worldwide.

The prime minister warmly welcomed Dr Naik, expressing his admiration for his scholarly work.

He said the entire Ummah was proud of him for projecting the real image of Islam across the world. It was heartening to note that a vast majority of youth listened to his lectures.

PM Shehbaz said that he had personally benefited from the eminent scholar's lectures, enriching himself with the valuable teachings of Islam.

He said that the people of Pakistan fully admired Dr Naik's great personality and were happy about his presence in the country.

The premier noted that Dr Naik was in good health and added that he was happy to know that his (the scholar) son was also following his footsteps and serving Islam.

He also recalled his past meeting with Dr Zakir in 2006.

The scholar, in his remarks, said that Pakistan was the only country in the world which was founded on Islamic principles.

He said that Islam was the religion which offered comprehensive guidance to the entire humanity encompassing every aspect of their lives.

He reiterated his commitment to continuing efforts to spread the message of Islam globally, saying: “The success lies in following the Islamic teachings”.

Recalling that he had last visited Pakistan in 1991, he said he still had fond memories of that tour. He added that he would also visit Karachi and Lahore.

Prior to his meeting with premier, the Islamic scholar met National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq at the Parliament House and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman at his residence in Islamabad a day ago.

The renowned religious scholar along with his son Shaikh Fariq Naik had arrived in Pakistan at the invitation of the government two days ago and will hold public gatherings in multiple cities.

As per the schedule shared by Dr Naik, he will address public talks in Karachi on October 5 and 6, followed by those in Lahore set to take place on October 12 and 13.

Meanwhile, the scholar will address public gatherings in Islamabad on October 19 and 20.

Link

India-Pakistan

Imran Khan was ousted on Gen Bajwa's directives: Fazlur Rehman

2024-02-16

[GEO.TV] Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) Emir Maulana Fazlur Rehman said Thursday that the no-confidence motion that ousted former prime minister Imran Khan was tabled on the directives of ex-army chief General (retired) Qamar Javed Bajwa.

In an interview on a private news channel, Fazl, who was the chief of the multi-party alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) responsible for removing Khan, said: “I was personally against the no-confidence move [...] but if I had said no despite insistence of other parties, then an impression would’ve been given that I ‘saved’ the PTI founder.”

The PDM removed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government in April 2022 and led by Shehbaz Sharif, the multi-party alliance ruled the country for 16 months before handing over the reins to the caretaker set-up.

At first, Khan insisted that the US had him removed — a claim that the Joe Biden administration vehemently rejected. However, the ex-prime minister later shifted the blame to Gen Bajwa.

In an interview in February last year, Khan, citing an apparent conversation of the retired general with a journalist, said General Bajwa had “accepted and clarified that he was behind our government's ouster”.

After he became the first prime minister to be ousted via a no-trust motion, Khan continued a tirade against the establishment; however, politicians also said that the ex-army chief was involved in the PTI’s ouster.

Fazl, during the interview, said: “While the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was running the movement for a no-confidence motion, Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hamid told me that I could do whatever I wanted, but within the system.”

The JUI-F chief said Hamid told him that he could not “do anything outside the system” — meaning that every move should be made inside the parliament, not on the streets.

“But I rejected his directions,” he said, but noted that later on, the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), and others left the PTI-led government.

“When they said that [the anti-PTI] is now in majority, I had to agree with them otherwise it would’ve been said that I helped save Imran Khan,” the JUI-F chief, who has rejected February 8 election results, said.

GOVERNMENT FORMATION
The February 8 did not return a clear majority for anyone, but independent candidates backed by Khan won 92 out of 264 seats, making them the largest group, followed by PML-N (79) and the PPP (54).

However, every party, even the PML-N which is seemingly about to form the next government, is unhappy with the election results.

For his party, Fazl has decided to join the parliament, but not become part of the government. “The decisions will not be made in the parliament anymore, they will be made on the streets.”

He noted that apparently, “rigging in elections” benefited the PML-N and there’s a rumour that Nawaz was not winning the Lahore seat.

Fazl said that PML-N’s prime minister candidate Shehbaz had paid him a visit to speak about government formation, but he rejected the idea and instead called on the Nawaz-led party to join him in the opposition.

“But Shehbaz left without responding to my offer [...] for me, the parliament has lost its credibility. If the establishment this that the elections were fair, then the May 9 narrative has been buried.”

Link

India-Pakistan

'TTP on agenda' as Fazl gears up for visit to Afghanistan

2024-01-07

[GEO.TV] Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman is set to embark on his maiden visit to Afghanistan in nearly 10 years tomorrow (Sunday), sources told Geo News.

The senior politician has banned outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Pak-Afghan bilateral relationship among other issues on the visit's agenda, the sources said.

Interim Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan Sardar Ahmed Jan Shakib on December 16, met the senior politician and invited him to visit Afghanistan. Later, Taliban government's spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed Fazl's upcoming visit.

This will be Fazl's first visit since the Taliban takeover of the war-torn country following the United States withdrawal in 2021.

Fazl first visited Afghanistan in 2013 during the government of former president Hamid Karzai.

The sources said that former member of the National Assembly Jamaluddin Mehsood will accompany the JUI-F chief on the trip.

Continuous use of Afghan soil against Pakistan — an issue that Islamabad has time again raised before the Taliban-led Afghan administration — will also be discussed on the visit, sources added.

Speaking on Geo News' programme "Jirga", which will be aired tomorrow, Fazl said that he has the government's mandate for the Afghanistan visit.

"I believe in negotiations but one can move towards a comprehensive strategy only by looking at the ground realities for talks with TTP," Fazl said.

Link

India-Pakistan

Sunni Ulema Council's Maulana Masoodur Rehman Usmani gunned down in Islamabad

2024-01-06

[GEO.TV] Prominent religious figure and Sunni Ulema Council’s Maulana Masoodur Rehman Usmani was killed in Islamabad’s Ghauri town area on Friday, reported Geo News.

The incident happened when unknown assailants — on a motorcycle — opened fire on Usmani’s vehicle in the federal capital’s Ghauri town area.

Meanwhile, the religious body’s spokesperson Yasir Qasmi has also confirmed the death of the council’s central deputy general secretary.

In a statement, the Islamabad police said that one person was killed and another was injured after a vehicle was fired upon within Khanna police station’s jurisdiction.

A heavy contingent of the police is present at the crime scene, the statement from the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) police stated.

“[The police] are tracing the perpetrators with the help of [footages taken from] close circuit television (CCTV) cameras.”

Those responsible will be soon brought to justice, the police reassured.

Meanwhile, Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Irfan Memon has reached the Pakistan Institute Of Medical Sciences (PIMS) — where the deceased’s dead body was transferred after the incident.

The incident comes days after former member of National Assembly and National Democratic Movement (NDM) leader Mohsin Dawar's convoy came under a gun attack by terrorists in Tappi village North Waziristan.

However, the politician escaped unharmed as the security personnel accompanying Dawar fired back at the assailants, which forced them to flee from the scene, North Waziristan District Police Officer (DPO) Rohan Zaib confirmed to Geo News.

Earlier, the convoy of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) supremo Maulana Fazlur Rehman had also come under attack a few days ago in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Dera Ismail Khan.

Ever since the Taliban-led administration took over neighbouring Afghanistan, Pakistan has witnessed a notable surge in terror incidents across the country with terror attacks reaching the highest level in 2023 since 2014.

Link

India-Pakistan

PML-N, JUI-F hit back at Bilawal as electioneering picks up pace

2023-11-22

[GEO.TV] The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) have hit back at Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari after the latter raised concerns over upcoming general elections' transparency and the “denial” of the level-playing field to all political parties.

Addressing a press conference in Lahore on Tuesday, senior PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah said he would not resort to using Bilawal’s language to respond to his criticism, Geo News reported.

The PPP chief in his recent public addresses launched a tirade against the PML-N leadership, calling it “mehangai [inflation] league” and accusing its supremo Nawaz Sharif of receiving preferential treatment from the caretaker government.

Bilawal has also cast doubts on the transparency of the upcoming general elections, claiming that no one would accept the results of the polls if results were manipulated in favour of any political party.

“The PML-N does not want to increase bitterness that’s why we are not responding to Bilawal’s [criticism] in his own language,” Sanaullah said in today’s media talk.

Despite adopting anti-PML-N rhetoric, the former security czar said the ex-foreign minister would not be able to woo anti-PML-N voters by “heaping praise” on the PML-N.

Besides Punjab, he said the PML-N would secure a majority from other provinces as well in the upcoming elections.

The PML-N stalwart also emphasised the need for working together for the country’s betterment. “We have to work together If the country has to move forward.”

Sanaullah said that his party exercised restraint as both parties were allies in the previous coalition government led by the PML-N.

Fazl advises against political bitterness
Meanwhile, speaking to the media after meeting Nawaz Sharif, Maulana Fazl said his party would not adopt an aggressive stance against the PPP and would maintain contact with other political parties as well.

“There is a difference between the thinking of an elderly person and a child. This difference is visible in the statements of Bilawal,” the JUI-F chief said referring to his statement that youth should be given a chance to lead the country instead of the elderly.

Fazl called for promoting reconciliation and harmony in order to avoid confrontational politics during the election campaign.

He also advised against casting aspersions on the transparency of polls saying that the country cannot afford the disputed elections.

The JUI-F said his party has decided to work together with PML-N in the future and would also enter into seat adjustment with its ally.

Political activities are on the rise in the country after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), following the Supreme Court's intervention, announced that the polls in the country will take place on February 8, 2024.

Link

India-Pakistan

Suicide bomber suspected as explosion at Islamist rally in Pakistan kills at least 40, wounds more than 150

2023-07-30

[NY Post] An explosion ripped through an Islamist political rally in northwest Pakistan on Sunday, killing at least 40 people and injuring more than 150 others, police said.

The Inspector General of Police for the Bajaur district said the blast, likely a suicide bombing, took place in the town of Khar as hundreds gathered to rally behind the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) group.

Officials believe the attack was targeting members of the political group, with its regional leader, Maulana Ziaullah, among those who died in the blast, according to the Associated Press.

Officials said the event was held close to a market square in the town, and was guarded by volunteer party members holding batons.

Despite the security, police chief Akhtar Hayat Gandapur told reporters a suicide bomber likely sneaked into the venue and set off the explosion just as high ranking leaders for the political party arrived.

First responders rushed to the scene, with local broadcasts showing rescue workers carrying the injured away as other residents flee in panic.

Bajaur officials declared a health emergency given the high number of casualties and injuries; the total number of wounded was expected to rise..

Adam Khan, 45, was at the rally when the explosion knocked him to the ground and left him with splinters all over his hands and leg.

"There was all dust and smoke around and I was under the some injured people from where I hardly (could stand) up but only to see chaos and some scattered limbs," he told the AP.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl has been previously targeted by ISIS.

Link

India-Pakistan

Fazl reiterates demand for new elections, warns govt of serious consequences Listen

2019-12-02

[The News (Pak)] Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam
...the political wing of the Pak Taliban...
-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman

...Deobandi holy man, known as Mullah Diesel during the war against the Soviets, his sympathies for the Taliban have never been tempered by honesty...
on Sunday reiterated the demand for new elections and warned the government that if it turned down his demands, it would have to deal with harsh circumstances.

Fazl was addressing a presser where he lashed out at the government.

"Our economy is in its worst condition," he said. "Unemployment is on the rise and people have lost the power to spend."

Fazl said that institutions had lost their ability to produce. He said that the business community was concerned while hundreds of thousands were becoming unemployed.

The JUI-F chief said that elections were the only way forward for the country.

"New elections must be held across the country," he said. "Our protests in certain areas of the country is going on."

Fazl criticised Prime Minister Imran and said that the government was a mafia.

"He [Prime Minister Imran] refers to others as a mafia whereas he and others are a mafia themselves," he said.

He said that the Azadi March had united the entire country and brought it on one common platform. Fazl was of the view that the incumbent government was an inept one and that Pakistain needed a strong political system.

"The Azadi March was a historic event. Its effects are still being felt in Pak politics," said Fazl.

The JUI-F chief said that his party had decided to be the spokesperson of the poor in the country.

Fazl said that Pakistain's foreign policy had performed poorly and as a result, Pakistain stood alone in the world.

"Our friends are even not willing to stand with us," he said.

Link

India-Pakistan

Rangers kill Jundallah chief in Hub

2016-11-13

QUETTA - Pakistan-based Jundallah Amir Arif alias Saqib was reportedly killed on Friday by Rangers.

The Rangers sources said their crews operating in Hub killed on Friday the amir of Pakistan-based Jundallah, an outlawed outfit Arif. Arif alias Saqib was mastermind of suicide explosions in Balochistan.

“He was amir of Jundallah group in Pakistan and was manipulating subversive activities jointly with Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and Islamic State (IS) in the country,” revealed the sources. A huge quantity of explosive materials along with arms was also recovered.

Apart from Pakistan, the Jundallah amir was also most wanted in Iran in scores of subversive activities, the sources said.

“Acting upon a tip off by intelligence agencies, Rangers’ anti-terrorist force Thursday night conducted an operation at a suspected militant hideout in the Hub area of Balochistan,” read a statement issued by a Rangers spokesperson, reported a private TV channel.

“During the exchange of fire, the Jundallah chief and nominated deputy chief of Tehreek-e-Taliban Sindh, Saqib alias Arif alias Anjum, was killed,” the statement added.

The Rangers spokesperson also revealed that the Jundallah chief along with members of Al-Qaeda, Jamaatul Ahrar and Islamic State was involved in several high-profile terror acts.

Some of them were allegedly involved in various terror activities, including an attack on the vehicle of the then Karachi Corps Commander Lt-Gen Ahsan Saleem, a suicide hit on Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman in Quetta, assassination of chief security officer of former president Asif Ali Zardari, Bilal Sheikh and attack on a church and members of minority communities.

The Rangers statement also claimed that the killed militant was planning major terror attacks on Rangers’ headquarters and the SSU headquarters in Karachi.

The paramilitary force also recovered explosives from the suspect’s house, which was being used as a factory for preparing improvised explosive devices (IEDs), claimed the spokesperson.

The Rangers also claimed to have recovered huge quantity of automatic weapons, ammunition and hand grenades.

TWO TERRORISTS KILLED IN PANJGUR

Two terrorists were killed and a security personnel injured during operation of the Frontier Corps (FC) and sensitive agencies against the extremists in Panjgur on Friday.

FC spokesman said the paramilitary force in collaboration with sensitive agencies conducted a joint operation against militants in Panjgur district. During operation two terrorists were killed, another injured while one security personnel was also wounded in the firing exchange.

The security personnel recovered arms and explosives from the possession of the terrorists. The injured FC was man shifted to a hospital for treatment.

Meanwhile, eight operatives of the banned outfit were detained on Friday after exchange of fire with security forces.

According to FC Balochistan spokesman, law-enforcing agencies apprehended eight terrorists of BLF and recovered RPG7 rockets, five rifles, explosive materials, IEDs, 63kg hashish and communication instruments from their custody.

Link

India-Pakistan

India, Pakistan to talk about Kashmir

2015-12-12

There's less here than it sounds...

Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz told the National Assembly on Friday that talks with India on all issues including Kashmir, Siachan, Sir Creek, easing tension on borders and other matters will start next month for normalisation of relations.

While giving a policy statement, he said foreign secretaries of both Pakistan and India would meet next month to set priorities. Opinion from house committees will be solicited and their guidance will also be sought in this regard, Sartaj Aziz remarked.

Meanwhile, the decision to hold India-Pakistan comprehensive dialogue following Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's meetings during visit here this week has been largely welcomed by the media and analysts, though certain politicians and former diplomats believe the joint statement issued after these meetings tilted towards India.

Opposition in the National Assembly, in particular Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf of Imran Khan and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam's Maulana Fazlur Rehman demanded that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should brief the assembly about what transpired during talks with the Indian delegation and in the Heart of Asia conference.

Former senior diplomat Shamshad Ahmed who had authored the agenda of composite dialogue in 1998, acknowledged that resumption of talks was a happy development. However, he expression apprehensions over the expression "Comprehensive bilateral dialogue" used in the joint statement. "I believe this is a clear device introduced by India to exclude the Kashmiri representation in the process," he said.

Link

Afghanistan

Karzai Meets With Fazl

2013-10-15

[Tolo News] President Hamid Karzai's office on Monday said in a statement that the President had met with Mawlana Fazl Rahman, the head of Pakistan's Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, in Kabul twice over the course of Saturday and Sunday in hopes of gaining ground in peace negotiations with the Taliban.

"Mawlana's trip to Afghanistan was very important," said Mawlawi Shahzada Shahid, a spokesman for the High Peace Council (HPC). "Mawlana is a powerful cleric in Pakistan, and this was his first trip to Kabul since the Russian invasion."

Others are less hopeful that sit-downs between the Pakistani religious leader and Karzai will have a significant impact on the peace process. The Pakistani Taliban have even criticized Rahman's trip and asked him to provide details about his visits to Kabul.

Officials of Pakistan's Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam have said that Rahman's visit to Afghanistan comes with respect for the struggle of the Afghan Taliban and their "sacrifice."

With Taliban elements in Pakistan condemning the trip and Rahman's own cohort qualifying it with overtures to the Afghan Taliban, it is no surprise that some are dubious of how productive discussions between Karzai and Rahman can be for the peace process.

"We shouldn't think that those who have made us suffer over the past three decades will bring us flowers, it's a waste of time and a self-deception," said MP Abdul Jabar Qahraman.

While some think it is absurd to have confidence in figures like Rahman because they have been in bed with the Taliban in both Pakistan and Afghanistan for so long, others have opposite reasoning yet come to the same conclusion. People like Waheed Mujda, and Afghan political expert, think Rahman is not close enough to the Afghan Taliban to affect Kabul's peace process in any notable way.

"If the goal of Afghanistan was to use Mawlana Fazl Rahman for peace, I think the government is wrong," Mujda said. "If Mawlana has any influence on the Taliban, he would first have an impact on the Pakistani Taliban."

Some Pakistani officials have said that Rahman traveled to Kabul through Dubai in an attempt to keep his departure hushed. They did not elaborate on whether or not this was because he may have faced resistance if it had been widely known that he was on his way to kabul.

Link

India-Pakistan

Blasts Mar Pakistani Elections

2013-05-12

Bet you never saw this coming...

Violence on election day in Pakistan has killed at least 16 people, as voters cast ballots in the first election that will see one civilian administration give way to another after a full term in office.

As Pakistanis vote in parliamentary elections to fill 272 seats in the National Assembly, twin bomb blasts in Karachi killed at least 10 people. The blasts took place at a political campaign office for the Awami National Party, one of the parties targeted by the Taliban for election-related attacks.

Shootings in the southwestern province of Baluchistan left another four people dead.

However, considering the huge turnout at polling stations across the country, relatively few attacks have taken place so far on election day.

Day's not over yet...

More than 100 people have been killed and scores wounded since late April in attacks, as the Taliban seeks to undermine the election. Taliban members have warned of suicide attacks on election day.

Bombings on Friday killed at least four people and wounded 18 others. The four died in a blast near political party offices in North Waziristan - a Taliban and al-Qaida stronghold. Thirteen people were wounded.

A blast in the southwestern part of the country wounded five more people outside an office being used by the Pakistan People's Party.

No one has claimed responsibility for the bombings, but Pakistan's military says it is deploying thousands of troops to polling stations and counting centers.

The recent bombings of two rallies of a leading Islamic party, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, strengthened views the Taliban is opposed to democracy and is targeting anyone taking part in the elections.

Link

India-Pakistan

Pak-taliban attacks Jamaat-e-Islam and other Islamist party

2013-05-08

Three bombings in northwest Pakistan targeting individuals involved in this week's national elections killed 18 people on Tuesday, police said, pushing the death toll from attacks on candidates and party workers to over 100 since the beginning of April.

Two of the attacks targeted candidates from Islamist parties, indicating a new trend in the pre-election violence, which had only plagued secular parties before this week.
Taliban consider secular govt harem and thus even hard line Islamists who want to kill apostates, blasphemers, insulters of Mohammud, dishonorers of family, etc., must be destroyed if they participate in an election
In the deadliest of the three attacks Tuesday, a suicide bomber on a motorcycle detonated his explosives near a vehicle carrying a candidate from a hard-line Islamist party, killing 12 people and wounding 35, police officer Haleem Khan said. It was the second attack on the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam
Council of Islamic Clergy
party in as many days.

Link

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