Strange Pak doesn't have any depth in relations with neighboring countries, says JUI chief

"I wish that Allah should not give the death like Salman Taseer to anyone. He was so isolated after his death that even the Imam (cleric) of the governor house declined to offer his funeral prayers."

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch |
Source/Credit: Times of India |
By Omer Farooq Khan | June 21, 2011


Interview of Maulana Fazlur Rehman's, chief of Jamiat Ulema Islam (JUI), chairman of Pakistan's Kashmir affairs and former leader of opposition in the National Assembly.

Q: What do you really mean by saying that Kashmir and Afghanistan are the biggest obstacles in the of Pakistan's economy?

Ans: I believe that apart from relations with international partners, we should give preference in foreign policy to our neighbouring countries. When we take a look at Pakistan's geographic importance then it's strange that we don't have any depth in relations with our neighboring countries. That's why I told the parliament that from the last 60-years Kashmir remained a wall at our eastern borders.
Suppose that wall wouldn't have been there and we had friendly relations with India, how much we could have benefited from it. We can immensely benefit from trade with India, Bangladesh and other South Asian countries. In the same way since the existence of Pakistan, we hadn't had fruitful relations with Afghanistan.

Afghanistan had always preferred India against Pakistan. Despite Pakistan's role in Afghanistan during the last 30 years, it had not been able to break that wall. And that's why we were not able to develop close ties with the central Asian states.

Q: You are the chairman of parliament's Kashmir committee for long. What do you think how this issue can be resolved?

Ans: Every issue can be resolved with the consent of the conflicting parties. My experience suggests that both countries are not serious in resolving the Kashmir issue. When they'll get serious then you will see they will find many ways. The establishments of both countries are the biggest hurdles as well. Normally sometimes the delay goes in their favour while some time in ours.


Q: What is you party's line on the war against terror?

Ans: We don't consider it as a war against terror. It's very clear from our side. After the fall of Soviet Union America became the lonely super power. It was in its interest to impose its political imposition on the rest of the world. It was equally important for the US to seize economy of the world. To accomplish its mission they did it under the cover of 9/11. Now after 10 years we have the right to ask from the US and the western forces that did they fished the terrorists or curtailed terrorism. Now this wave of militancy has expanded to Pakistan. So, the purpose of this war was something else.

Q: PM called Osama bin Laden a terrorist on the floor of the house. Do you agree with your PM?

Ans: Gillani needed to address much bigger queries. I want Gillani to answer rather than celebrating bin Laden death that how did he manage to live near the military installations for years.


Q: Being a Muslim, as your party says, it was justified to offer prayers for OBL, why not for the late Salman Taseer?

Ans: I wish that Allah should not give the death like Salman Taseer to anyone. He was so isolated after his death that even the Imam (cleric) of the governor house declined to offer his funeral prayers. While holding a constitutional post, Taseer declared a law written in his own constitution as black law. Reaction had to come. Prayers can be offered for any Muslim and our party did it for Osama bin Laden.


Q: Do you think blasphemy law or some clauses of it should be amended?

Ans: Well, anything can be discussed at a certain platform. If there is some sort of scarcity in the blasphemy law, then religious scholars should gather and discuss it. But a Vatican pope is not supposed to intervene in our law.


Q: Do you condemn the killing of Shahbaz Bhatti?
Ans: I was the first who condemned his killing and it was not at all linked with the country's blasphemy law.


Q: Do you think that drone attacks happen with the consent of the government?
Ans: In my opinion it is not possible to carry out such strikes without
the consent of our government and the army.


Q: We have seen that the Afghan president Hamid Karzai gave a big warning to the US regarding the civilian casualties in his country. Is our leadership so spineless that it can't even effectively protest some of the US atrocities that took place inside Pakistan?

Ans: I think Karzai speaks better than us. He is an intelligent person. He knows that the US was against him in the last presidential elections. Our leaders think that as long as the US supports them they will continue to rule.


Q: During the in-camera session of parliament regarding the May 2 incident, DG ISI (Pasha) had snubbed your brother by saying that you people were getting dollars from Libya and Saudi Arabia?

Ans: I will not make any comment as General Pasha had said this while being angry. He should have addressed the issue for which he was called into the parliament. How comes a person who could not see US helicopters violating our sovereignty will be capable of seeing dollars in our pockets.

Q: Do you support any military operation in the troubled tribal areas?

Ans: No! Any military operation is against my philosophy. I want to solve all issues through a process of dialogue.

Q: You have said that our nuclear installations are under threat from the US. How will you justify it?

Ans: Absolutely, the US and its allies don't want us as a nuclear state. They are not afraid of the atom bomb of Israel or India but they have reservations over our atomic weapons. Now, they can't say that its not the right of Pakistan to be a nuclear power. They can only say that Pakistan's nuclear weapons could fall into the hands of terrorists. I must say here that its un-safe from the hands of America.


Q: If the Americans again strike unilaterally, what will Pakistan do?

Ans: I can't comment as it's not my subject. The concerned people should respond to it.

Q: Do you think Madrassa's should be reformed?

Ans: Madrassa's are already reformed.

Q: According to WikiLeaks revelations, you had asked for a favor from the former US ambassador Anne W Peterson in 2007 to support you for the slot of PM. She also wrote that your elected members were for sale in the parliament.

Ans: I will say it's a Joke. If the American envoy wrote such crazy reports then I think the US should think about their bureaucrats. What type of diplomats they are sending to our region. They don't even understand what we are saying.

Q: You enjoy a lot of influence in Baluchistan and Khyber Paktunkhwa provinces. Can you play a role in resolving the conflicts between government and militants factions?

Ans: The situation in both of the provinces is murkier. In the past, if there was a ray of hope all is lost now. If there seems to be any possibility of playing a role in future, I'll surely do.

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