Islamabad: The All Parties Conference (APC) on Wednesday left little impact on the government of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) amid reports of differences within the opposition parties over a strategy to topple Imran Khan’s government.
Pakistan People’s Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari took a principled stand in the APC against a number of suggestions made by APC chairman and convener Maulana Fazlur Rehman, chief of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F).
During the APC, Fazlur Rehman suggested mobilising the masses against Prime Minister Imran Khan’s recent televised address to the nation in which he had allegedly made blasphemous remarks against ‘Sahaba’ (Fellows) of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).
Sources told Gulf News here Friday that almost all the participating high-profile leaders of the Opposition parties were about to approve this suggestion when Bilawal put his foot down firmly saying he and his party would never support any political gain based on exploiting people’s religious sentiments.
Such a strategy would serve to divide the society in the name of religion and that the PPP is against using religion for political benefits.
Bilawal was quoted as saying he had lost his grandfather Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, mother Benazir Bhutto and two maternal uncles, Murtaza and Shah Nawaz, in opposing the forces of extremism and fanaticism and if he okays use of ‘religion card’ against the current government, he will be doing great injustice to them.
After Bilawal’s opposition, the suggestion was deferred for another time. Another suggestion that met the same fate was that of en masse resignation of MPs.
While presiding over the session, Fazlur Rehman suggested resignation of opposition legislators from the assemblies, but the main opposition parties said such a move was not a solution to national issues.
Both Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and PPP said they would not be able to effectively push their stance outside parliament, adding that a joint strategy should be opted inside and outside the parliament against incumbent government.
Whereas Bilawal’s stance showed fissures among the opposition parties it also raised his stature as a visionary leader who was not in favour of using religion for political motives.
Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry on Friday in his tweet, welcomed Bilawal’s stance and said fatwa (decree)-issuing clerics are the biggest threat to Pakistan.
On his Twitter account, Chaudhry further wrote that people from all sects should wage Jihad against this attitude as 75 per cent of “our problems develop due to such clerics”.
Fawad Chaudhry said Zardari deserved applause for taking stand over this issue.
