JUI-F challenges legality of anti-encroachment operation at Mufti Mahmood Markaz

PESHAWAR
Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) provincial chief Senator Maulana Attaur Rehman on Tuesday claimed that the party had legal documents establishing its ownership of the land housing Mufti Mahmood Markaz and questioned the authorities’ right to carry out an anti-encroachment operation on the premises.
Rejecting the imposition of emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he alleged that the measure was being used not to combat terrorism but to target the homes and properties of ordinary citizens in the name of an anti-encroachment drive.
Speaking at a press conference at Mufti Mahmood Markaz alongside other party leaders, he said the developments over the past week suggested that the emergency was not aimed at curbing terrorism but at demolishing properties belonging to people in the province.
Criticising the provincial administration and the ongoing anti-encroachment operation, Mr Rehman said the drive had caused losses worth billions of rupees.
He questioned the need for an emergency if the government’s sole objective was to remove encroachments, arguing that the exercise could have been carried out through normal administrative measures.
He said the JUI-F had rejected the decision to impose emergency, describing the anti-encroachment drive as an operation against poor people. He added that the party possessed legal documents establishing its ownership of the land housing Mufti Mahmood Markaz and maintained that the government had no right over the property.
Mr Rehman alleged that the authorities had even prepared to demolish the mosque located within the Markaz during the operation.
He challenged the federal government to arrest JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman if it had the courage to do so.
The JUI-F leader also questioned the activities of the governor’s brother, saying the party would have to bring the matter into the open. He alleged that trucks carrying minerals were being transported along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) route at night, while emergencies had been imposed in various districts in the name of ensuring the security of routes.
Referring to the merger of the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) with KP, he said the JUI-F had opposed the merger and noted that calls for restoring the former tribal status had resurfaced.
Mr Rehman announced that the party would hold a province-wide protest on Nov 15, followed by a Youth Jamiat convention on Nov 18 and a JUI-F digital convention on Nov 19.