Former senator and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) leader Hafiz Hamdullah has said Pakistan is “neither Islamic nor democratic” and no longer reflects the vision of its founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
At a book launch in Quetta, Hamdullah said the country was called the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, yet neither Islam nor democracy was reflected in its affairs. He said 250 million Muslims lived in the country but Islam was absent, adding that the purpose for which Pakistan had been founded was no longer being pursued.
Hamdullah also criticised Mohsin Naqvi and questioned why he had not noticed the kitchen, generator or security cabin when he used to visit Maulana Fazlur Rehman and eat meals and halwa with him. He alleged that artificial intelligence was now being used to smear the JUI leader’s family.
He said Fazlur Rehman had opposed governor’s rule and a state of emergency because these measures were intended to provide cover for an attempt to seize mineral resources in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
At the same event, Balochistan National Party central senior vice president Advocate Sajid Tareen alleged that people “on the payroll” were speaking against Sardar Akhtar Mengal because the establishment disliked his political stance. Fazlur Rehman was now facing the same treatment, he added.
Tareen called for unity among political parties but said they also needed to make their positions clear. They could not support the “Form 47 government” and remain in the opposition at the same time, he said.