Maulana Fazlur Rahman, the Secretary General of the MMA and the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly is one of the most unpredictable characters in the political arena of Pakistan. By his appearance, his qualifications and his background he hardly inspires much confidence as a frontline Political Leader of the nation. He looks more of a conventional cleric whose job should not be outside the domain of supervising religious rituals and making appearances in public prayers, funeral ceremonies and marriage parties. That’s typically the role the clerical institution in most other religions plays. As far as Islam is concerned, it has neither any room for this institution, nor any inherent preference for those who try to seek prominence by their clerical credentials.
These observations are not in any way intended to show any disrespect for the JUI’s chief whose spiritual roots happen to extend to the famous ‘Devband school’ of India. (precisely why he abhors Jinnah)
The reason I happen to be writing about the respected Maulana is his recent stance over the subject of resignations from the assemblies. Yet again the Maulana has chosen to sit astride the wall and keep his cards close to his chest (till the last moment). For him quite clearly ‘politics’ is not a matter of principles and ideology, but of gaining maximum mileage from each decision or move, in terms of benefits—mostly material and tangible.
No wonder he was dubbed as Maulana Diesel as far back as the first term of Benazir Bhutto’s Governance. Also no wonder he presided over the parliament’s foreign affairs committee during the second term of BB Sahiba. It happens to be no great secret that Maulana has publically condemned the ideals and philosophies that BB sahiba and her PPP stand for. Presently it is supposedly for ‘the secular’ character of the PPP that Maulana has been trying to keep himself at a safe distance from the PPP.
But as I have said, Maulana Fazlur Rahman is a sort of political player who knows the art of encashing his value—even in the quarters he prefers to be recognized as hostile to. Meaning thereby that he also knows that his unpredictability too has value. Perhaps so much value that he simply can not afford to act scrupulously.
06-03-2014
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