Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal differences

JUI-S wants MMA to expel shia TI

* Qazi, Fazl reject demands to oust Sajid Naqvi’s party

By Amir Rana

LAHORE: The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) is under pressure from some quarters in the alliance to expel Allama Sajid Naqvi and his Tehrik-e-Islami party because of his nomination in the Maulana Azam Tariq murder case, sources told Daily Times on Wednesday.

“The demand comes from both factions of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam and other important parliamentarians,” sources said. “The matter will be discussed in the Supreme Council meeting in Islamabad today.”

However, JUI-Fazl head Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Jamaat-e-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed, the two most influential figures in the MMA, have reportedly rejected the proposed expulsion. “Qazi has assured Sajid Naqvi that he will not be expelled and the MMA is ready to defend him,” sources said.

However, the JUI-S is insistent he should be expelled. “Sajid Naqvi should be expelled because he is nominated in the Azam Tariq murder case and our supporters are angry that he is still in the alliance,” Maulana Yousaf Shah, JUI-Sami general secretary, told Daily Times.

Mr Naqvi remained defiant. “We will remain in the MMA. No one can force us to leave,” he told Daily Times. “Everybody knows that the case against us is fake.”

He said he had offered to stand trial under Sharia law by a board of clerics from the Deobandi school. “We would accept their judgment, even if it went against us,” he said.

“But people should look into who the real beneficiaries of the murder of Azam Tariq are. The opposition struggle against the Legal Framework Order and the MMA’s negotiations with the government are now sidetracked and no longer big news. It should also be noted that (US officials) Christina Rocca and Richard Armitage were in Pakistan when he was murdered.

“And when Azam Tariq escaped an assassination attempt in Jhang a few months ago, the attackers were not from any opposing sect, but from his own party. Why are these things ignored?”

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