The federal government has decided to negotiate with Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, a private news channel reported on Sunday.
A meeting of the government’s negotiating committee took place at Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani’s house.
Sanjrani reportedly told participants of the meeting that the government should seriously negotiate with Fazl to resolve the crisis.
“Fazlur Rehman has still not violated the agreement, hence we should also talk to him,” Sanjrani was quoted as saying. “We are always ready to negotiate,” said Defence Minister Pervaiz Khattak.
The two-day ultimatum that the JUI-F chief gave to Prime Minister Imran Khan to resign has ended. Fazl is expected to make an important announcement soon regarding the Azadi March.
Meanwhile, the government’s negotiation committee has reportedly decided to send in PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain to hold talks with the opposition’s Rehbar Committee. On the other hand, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser made contact with Akram Khan Durrani, the head of the opposition’s Rehbar Committee, and recommended that the two sides hold a meeting.
“We are politicians. Our doors are always open for negotiations,” Durrani assured Qaiser.
Durrani also told the speaker that the opposition’s demands were still the same and they stood by them.
Religious card:
Meanwhile, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan on Sunday said that the nation was well aware of the JUI-F chief’s tactics.
In a series of posts on social networking website Twitter, the special assistant regretted that Maulana Fazlur Rehman was threatening to create anarchy in the country by bringing innocent students of seminaries to the streets.
“The people of Pakistan would not allow Maulana to use the religious card for his vested interests,” she added. Firdous said Prime Minister Imran Khan would neither make a deal with those elements nor give them any relaxation in the accountability process.
Firdous said she was disappointed that the JUI-F chief issued personal statements against the prime minister. “What we have been seeing since this entire week in Islamabad is a theatre,” she said, and added she was glad that the JUI-F chief had not done anything after his ultimatum had expired. She separately said the government could not be blackmailed through any threats. Addressing a press conference alongside Minister for Religious Affairs Noorul Haq Qadri following Fazl’s fiery speech, she said the government was ready to hold talks with the opposition.
She cleared that the government’s desire for talks should not be misconstrued as a weakness. She said Prime Minister Imran Khan has already formed a powerful committee led by Defence Minister Pervez Khattak for holding dialogue with the JUI-F. She said differences and issues should be resolved politically, expressing confidence the JUI-F chief would adopt a reconciliatory approach and eschew the path of chaos.
She said the government fully facilitated the protest of the JUI-F, allowing them to exercise their democratic right to protest. She, however, regretted that Fazl used inappropriate language about the premier.
Meanwhile, two of the government’s ministers late Sunday retorted to Fazlur Rehman’s fiery criticism of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Addressing a press conference, Murad Saeed and Noorul Haq Qadri – the federal ministers for postal services and religious affairs, respectively – defended PM Imran by saying people should join him in building a ‘State of Madina’.
“The love for Madina is in the heart of the prime minister,” Qadri said, adding that it was based on the premier’s directions that schoolchildren were made to read and understand the teachings of the Holy Quran.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Saturday had decided against joining the JUI-F sit-in protest.
Both the PPP and PML-N were invited by JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman to attend Islamabad’s sit-in, but they decided not to join the sit-in protest and have informed the JUI-F leadership about their decision. A throng of protesters descended upon the federal capital under the Azadi March banner, demanding the premier step down. The caravan that had earlier started off from Sindh travelled through Punjab and set up camp in Islamabad Thursday night.
