ISLAMABAD: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazal ur Rehman has said that Defence Minister Khawaja Asif is his respected colleague and brother, adding that he had only tried to tease him a little, ARY News reported.
Speaking about his recent exchange with Khawaja Asif, Fazal ur Rehman said the defence minister became angry the following day.
“An insult remembered a day later is like a punch one should hit oneself with,” he remarked.
The JUI-F chief said that instead of responding to his remarks, Khawaja Asif continued repeating his own statements.
Fazal ur Rehman said attempts were being made to create unnecessary bitterness in the country’s political affairs. He said he was a Pakistani citizen and the government was bound to respond to his questions and concerns.
“Responding to questions with abuses and fake videos is not acceptable,” he said, adding that his party was exercising restraint but its response would be difficult for the government to handle.
He questioned why those in power became angry whenever questions were raised about the government.
” I narrated my concerns, showed them the mirror and exposed the lies, and they took offence,” he said.
Referring to the political situation and his contacts with the government over negotiations with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Fazal ur Rehman said the party had not made any major demand and had only sought a meeting with its founder Imran Khan and access to medical treatment for him.
He said when he was asked to arrange a meeting, he made it clear that he would not hold any secret meeting.
Fazal ur Rehman said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif himself had suggested a way to resolve the matter. He added that he had presented his own proposals as well as those of PTI and was seen off on a positive note.
He said he had been assured that the discussion would be presented before everyone, but the government was now claiming that no talks had taken place.
The JUI-F chief also questioned how the matter could have received cabinet approval when Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar had not even presented it before the cabinet.
Expressing surprise over what he described as a joke played with the public and political leadership on such a large scale, Fazal ur Rehman said politics could not continue on the basis of lies created by the government.
He also referred to Article 2 of the Constitution, saying it clearly established that the country’s system would be run according to the decisions of the people.
