The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) on Tuesday criticised the Jamaat-e-Islami for exploiting the religious sentiments of people over the Bajaur Agency by-poll scheduled for January 10. The JI’s Sahibzada Haroonur Rashid quit his National Assembly seat in protest at the October 30 airstrike on a madrassa in Bajaur, and is now leading a campaign against the January 10 by-polls. Senator Abdur Rashid from Bajaur Agency told a press conference that the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal would not accept responsibility for any incident. “Some parties are trying to score political points over the issue, and they are using the MMA platform for this purpose,” said the senator in an indirect reference to the JI-led campaign.
Rashid said that participation in the January 10 poll was a democratic and constitutional right of the people of Bajaur. The polls had nothing to do with the deaths of the “innocent people” killed in the strike, he added.
The JUI-F senator also criticised the JI for branding opponents of the by-poll “friends of martyrs” and supporters “friend of the US”. “If the by-poll takes place, it will not hurt the families who lost their relatives in the airstrike,” he said.