Militants can capture any part of Pakistan: Fazlur Rehman

Pakistans militant organisations have become so powerful that they can take over any part of the country any moment, posing a potential threat to its solidarity, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman ha said.

Peshawar, July 16 : Pakistan's militant organisations have become so powerful that they can take over any part of the country any moment, posing a potential threat to its solidarity, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman ha said.

Speaking at the oath-taking ceremony of Dera Ismail Khan Press Club on Tuesday, he said that writ of the government had completely vanished in many areas.

Fazl urged the political forces to join hands to contain the wave of militancy and ward off the threat to the integrity of the country.

He said that he had raised the issue on the floor of the National Assembly telling the legislators that militant forces had become so powerful that they could go out of control of the government and capture any part of the country.

The strife in the tribal areas was a conflict of interest among tribal groups, which needed to controlled, Fazl added.

After the 9/11, US interference in Pakistan's internal affairs had grown to such an extent that it posed a grave danger to its very integrity, he said.

"We are not working for our national interest rather for the interests of others. Today, the reinstatement of deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry is not the major issue. The burning issue is the growing unrest among the people and threats to the country's integrity," Fazl said.

The Dawn quoted him as saying that frustration was growing among the people due to government's policies over the past eight years.

The JUI-F chief said that the Americans had pushed the entire world into fire to safeguard their own interests.

He said that the military operation would exacerbate the already volatile situation in the tribal territories, adding that the JUI-F delegation was holding talks with the rival groups to restore peace to the Khyber Agency.

ANI