PESHAWAR: Three members of the NWFP Assembly who were expelled from the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) for violating party discipline during the Senate elections have claimed that the resignations that the speaker approved were “faked” by the party. Addressing a press conference on Sunday, Maulana Dildar, Rukhsana Naz and Gor Saran Lal said that they were still members of the NWFP Assembly and that they will move court today (Monday) against their expulsion from the party. They said their votes were in line with the party directives and that they did not violate the party discipline, adding that there was no truth in the accusation that they had sold their votes.They said the committee which recommended action against them and presented the “fake” resignations to the speaker did this “only to please Akram Khan Durrani”, the NWFP chief minister”. They said that they had recorded their statements before the committee honestly and the committee had been satisfied with their statements but it was strange that such an extreme step was taken against them.
Talking to Daily Times, Rukhsana Raz said that her resignation was bogus since she had not resigned. “I do not even know whether the resignation letter was in Urdu, Pushto, or Arabic,” she said. Raz denied that she voted for the opposition member, saying that she was expelled from the party because she was vocal in criticising the party. “My fault is that I have been vocal and criticised the government’s flawed policies. The NWFP chief minister has taken revenge,” she said. The MPA, who was elected to a seat reserved for women from Shabqadar Matta, criticised Akram Khan Durrani, the NWFP chief minister, for his policies. “He (Durrani) and his party call President Musharraf a dictator but he is himself a dictator running all the affairs of the government single-handedly. He has held the entire party (JUI-F) hostage,” said Raz.