Islamabad:

Pakistan’s leading right-wing Islamic leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Monday came out in support of his erstwhile rival Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, saying the opposition party has the right to hold rallies and even form a government.

Rehman, the chief of his faction of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F), made a blistering speech in the National Assembly, slamming the powerful establishment for allegedly rigging the political system.

“It is the right of the PTI to hold a rally,” he said. “We also objected to the 2018 election and we object to this (February 8 polls) one too. If the 2018 poll was rigged, why is the current one not rigged?” he asked.

PTI leader Asad Qaiser had demanded the party’s right to organise a rally. “The demand of Asad Qaiser is correct and it is the right of PTI to hold a rally,” Rehman said in his speech.

Rehman urged the ruling coalition of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and the Pakistan Peoples Party to allow the PTI to form the government if it enjoyed a majority in the parliament.  

“Leave this power. Come and sit here [on the opposition benches], and if the PTI is indeed the larger group, then give them the government,” he said.

The cleric then expressed his dismay over the role of the establishment and bureaucracy in election and running the country.

“The establishment and bureaucracy had no role in achieving this country,” he said.

He alleged that the elections held on Feb 8 were not fair but flawed.

“What kind of election is this where the losers are not satisfied and the winners are upset?” he said.

He drew parallels with neighbouring India. “Just compare India and ourselves… both countries got independence on the same day. But today they (India) are dreaming of becoming a superpower and we are begging to avoid bankruptcy,” he said.

While India is inching closer to become a Global Superpower, Pakistan is begging before the world to save it from devastation.

[Pakistan’s Parliament] pic.twitter.com/i3ZNA3kQaN

— kanishka Dadhich (@KanishkaDadhich) April 29, 2024

He said that decisions are made by somebody else but politicians are blamed for the problems.

Rehman also lamented the failure to implement recommendations from the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), emphasising the importance of upholding Islamic principles.

“We got the country in the name of Islam, but today we have become a secular state. Since 1973, not a single recommendation of the CII has been implemented. How can we be an Islamic country?” he said.

The CCI is a constitutional body set up to help Islamize the laws.

He also said that Pakistan was begging the International Monetary Fund to avoid bankruptcy.

pic.twitter.com/KGHZhhVB18

— Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman (@MoulanaOfficial) April 29, 2024

The JUI-F was the arch-rival of PTI and had spearheaded the move for the ouster of Imran Khan. After his downfall, JUI-F became part of the coalition government. However, he parted ways with the PML-N and PPP after the elections as he alleged that the polls were rigged to keep his party out of power.

It is believed by many that by supporting the PTI, the cleric is putting pressure on the establishment and the government to cut a deal to get a bigger share in the spoils of politics than his potential.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on March 23 urged all political parties to set aside their differences to tackle the multiple problems faced by the cash-strapped country amidst increasing political polarisation and a spike in terror attacks.

Mr. Zardari was addressing the 84th Pakistan Day celebrations and Army parade held at the Parade Ground area in Islamabad.

The day marks the adoption of the historic Lahore Resolution on this day in 1940 which provided a framework for the realisation of the goal of a separate homeland for Muslims of South Asia.

Saudi Defence Minister Khalid Bin Salman was the guest of honour on the occasion. Mr. Zardari inspected the parade of tri-services and admired the preparedness of the forces. He also used the occasion to urge for building internal consensus while shunning political differences.

“I request all political parties that they should set aside all their political issues and work for the development and prosperity of the country,” Mr. Zardari, who was elected as President earlier this month, said.

Mr. Zardari was referring to the protest by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) against the alleged rigging in the election and imprisonment of its leader Imran Khan. Mr. Zardari said that Pakistan was facing multiple challenges but the newly-elected government would address the challenges faced by the country.

“I am happy that a democratic government has been set up after elections. Now it is our responsibility to tackle all challenges. I believe that as we did in the past, we will tackle all problems and we will take the country out of the current troubles,” he said.

He said Pakistani forces were strong enough to face the threat and defend the country, adding that the success of Pakistan against terrorism has been acknowledged by the world.

The President said the country had already set up the Special Investment Facilitation Centre (SIFC), including top civil and military leadership, to make key decisions regarding developing important sectors such as mining, agriculture, and information technology.

Mr. Zardari said that Pakistan being a peaceful nuclear state was eager to have good ties with all neighbours but warned that it would not tolerate any kind of aggression.

“We will not tolerate any kind of effort by terrorists or any group to destabilise our country,” he said, apparently referring to the spike in terror attacks in the country and tensions with neighbouring Afghanistan.

The President termed the unresolved issue of Kashmir as the main source of instability in the region and urged the dispute should be resolved according to the UN resolutions. “The people of Pakistan will always stand by Kashmiris in their struggle and will always support them,” he said, reiterating Islamabad’s stated stand.

India has firmly told Pakistan that Jammu and Kashmir will always be an integral and inalienable part of the country. Mr. Zardari also demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and urged for the opening of a humanitarian corridor to provide timely support to the besieged people of Gaza.

The President especially thanked China, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Turkiye for providing support to debt-trapped Pakistan in difficult times.

The main feature of the day was the grand military parade in Islamabad where contingents of three armed forces and other security forces conducted a march past while fighter planes performed aerobatic maneuvers.

Separately, Mr. Zardari, who became Pakistan’s President for a second time, stressed the nation to participate in the nation-building process actively, embracing the values of hard work, integrity, and compassion.

In his message on Pakistan Day, he honoured the commitment and sacrifices made by the Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah and his companions.

“Our armed forces, civil administration, police, and law enforcement agencies have, with unwavering commitment, ensured the safety, security, and sovereignty of our nation,” he said.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in his message asked the nation to renew the firm resolve to follow the footsteps of the founding fathers to make Pakistan a trivet of peace, progress and stability.

“Our forefathers made untiring efforts and rendered exemplary sacrifices for Pakistan as millions of Muslims left their homes in India and decided to migrate to Pakistan,” he said.

“We are completely cognisant of the serious challenges confronting Pakistan currently including inflation, unemployment, circular debt, fiscal and trade deficit, and above all the growing scourge of terrorism,” he said and assured to stand committed to putting Pakistan on the path to economic recovery and prosperity with a cogent policy reform framework.

Radio Pakistan reported that special prayers were offered in mosques after predawn prayers for the prosperity and solidarity of the country. The national flag was hoisted on major government buildings.

A Pakistani court on October 27 rejected petitions by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan seeking bail and cancellation of the first FIR in the cipher case for allegedly leaking state secrets and violating the laws of the country.
| Photo Credit: AP

A Pakistani court on October 27 rejected petitions by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan seeking bail and cancellation of the first FIR in the cipher case for allegedly leaking state secrets and violating the laws of the country.

Mr. Khan, 71, was arrested in August after a case was filed against him for disclosing a secret diplomatic cable (cipher) sent by the country’s embassy in Washington in March last year. A special court in Pakistan on October 23 indicted him along with his close ally ex-Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the case.

Mr. Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, had approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC) with the pleas for bail in the case as well as against the FIR which was registered by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in August.

IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq after the conclusion of the hearing had reserved judgment on October 16 which he announced on Friday.

The case is about a document sent by Pakistan’s embassy in Washington in March 2022 that Mr. Khan tried to use for political purposes by saying that it was proof of a foreign conspiracy to orchestrate his ouster from power in April last year.

Mr. Khan, who served as Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to April 2022, is accused of “misuse the contents of the cipher” to build a narrative that his government was ousted due to a foreign conspiracy hatched by the U.S., a charge denied by Washington.

Mr. Khan and Mr. Qureshi have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on September 30 presented the charge sheet against Mr. Khan and Mr. Qureshi who signed its copies.

On October 26, the Islamabad High Court rejected Mr. Khan’s petition challenging his indictment in the case.

The court was earlier set to indict Mr. Khan on October 17, but it delayed it after Mr. Khan’s lawyers objected that he was not provided with the copies of the chargesheet.

The cipher reportedly went missing from Mr. Khan’s possession. Mr. Khan had repeatedly said before and after the no-confidence motion against him last year that the cipher pointed to a conspiracy to remove him from the Prime Minister’s office.

Mr. Khan was ousted through a vote of no-confidence in April 2022. He was incarcerated on August 5 this year, after an Islamabad court sentenced him to three years in prison in the Toshakhana case. The PTI chief was lodged in the Attock District Jail to serve his prison term.

Later, his sentence was suspended by the Islamabad High Court, but then he was arrested in the cipher case and remained in the Attock jail on judicial remand. He was later shifted to Adiala jail.

More than 150 cases have been registered against Mr. Khan since his ouster from power in April last year.

Imran Khan. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

A special court in Pakistan, on October 17, adjourned till October 23 the indictment of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his close aide Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the cipher case for allegedly violating the secret laws of the country.

The case pertains to a secret diplomatic document that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan used to criticise his opponents for allegedly orchestrating his ouster from power in April last year.

The document reportedly went missing from his possession. Imran Khan’s party alleges that the document contained a threat from the U.S. to oust Mr. Khan from office.

The special court set up by the government held the in-camera hearing at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail after the Islamabad High Court on October 16 rejected a plea by Mr. Khan against holding his trial in jail.

Judge Abual Hasanat Zulqernain adjourned hearing till October 23 with the remarks that Mr. Khan and former Foreign Minister Qureshi would be indicted on that day.

Barrister Salman Safdar and Khalid Yousuf Chaudhry were present as 71-year-old Khan’s counsels, the Dawn newspaper reported. “Mr. Qureshi’s wife and daughter also reached the court. However, it was not confirmed whether they were allowed to attend the hearing,” it said.

Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) special prosecutor Shah Khawar, Mr. Khan, Mr. Qureshi and their legal teams were all present during the hearing. Mr. Khawar told journalists that the indictment proceedings will take place next Monday (October 23), Geo News reported.

“On October 23, the charges will be framed and the indictment will be filed. After the indictment, the regular trial of the cipher case will begin,” he said. As per the court’s orders of October 9, both PTI leaders were expected to be indicted in the case on Tuesday.

However, the indictment could not take place on Tuesday with the court only distributing the copies of the challan (charge sheet) among the suspects. Speaking to the media after the hearing, lawyer Sher Afzal Marwat said that Mr. Khan and Mr. Qureshi will now be indicted during the next hearing.

Imran Khan was ousted through a vote of no-confidence in April 2022. He was incarcerated on August 5 this year, after an Islamabad court sentenced him to three years in prison in the Toshakhana case. The PTI chief was lodged in the Attock District Jail to serve his prison term.

Later, his sentence was suspended by the Islamabad High Court, but then he was arrested in the cipher case.

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Pakistan’s jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan and several top leaders of his party were directly involved in orchestrating the unprecedented anti-government violence on May 9, a joint investigation team has informed an anti-terrorism court in Lahore.

A Joint Investigation Team (JIT) was constituted to probe the violence in Punjab province following the arrest of Mr. Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in connection with a corruption case on May 9.

The JIT headed by DIG Operations Imran Kishwar on Thursday submitted chargesheets against PTI leaders and hundreds of workers before an anti-terrorism court, reported the Dawn newspaper on Friday.

According to Lahore police, Khan, 70, and over 900 other party leaders and activists named in the May 9 cases have been “declared guilty of serious offences”, the report said.

In the chargesheets filed before the court, the prosecution alleged that the violent protests led by the suspects on May 9 were part of a planned conspiracy against the state.

It said over “400 pieces of video evidence, including speeches of the PTI chairman, proved that the attacks on military installations and premises in cantonment areas were pre-planned”.

A large number of PTI activists had attacked military installations, police vehicles, and other public and private properties in Lahore, according to the cases registered with the police. The vandalism at the Lahore Corps Commander’s House (Jinnah House), Askari Tower, and the Shadman police station were some of the major incidents during the violence.

“We have declared them prime accused in 12 out of the total 14 cases registered under the anti-terrorism act and other charges at Lahore’s various police stations… [and] challans have been submitted in the ATC,” the Dawn newspaper quoted DIG Kishwar as saying.

He said the JIT obtained “sufficient evidence” against the nominated persons, including Imran Khan, former Punjab governor Omar Sarfaraz Cheema, former provincial ministers Mian Mehmoodur Rashid, Dr Yasmin Rashid, and others.

The digital and photogrammetric evidence as well as voice messages of the suspects “confirmed the allegations” levelled against them in over a dozen cases lodged at different police stations in the provincial capital, the DIG said.

According to the JIT report, Khan along with the cooperation of central, provincial and local leaderships, constituted this plan to push Pakistan towards civil war and the public was incited through fake and self-created stories, reported The Express Tribune.

Following the arrest of Imran Khan by paramilitary Rangers on May 9, unrest broke out in Pakistan that saw the torching and vandalising of dozens of military and state buildings, including the Army headquarters in Rawalpindi and the ISI building in Faisalabad.

Police arrested over 10,000 workers of PTI and over 100 are being tried under the Army Act.

Mr. Khan has denied masterminding or inciting the attacks stating that it was a well-planned conspiracy to oust its party from upcoming elections.

He served as the country’s prime minister until April last year and currently faces around 180 cases, most of which stem from incidents on May 9.

Mr. Khan, who has been detained since August 5 after his arrest following his conviction in the Toshakhana case, is currently serving his sentence in the cipher case in Adiala jail.

The Islamabad High Court suspended his sentence in the Toshakhana case on August 29.