ISLAMABAD (The Thursday Times) — Defence Minister Khawaja Asif hit back at JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman in the National Assembly on Thursday, saying no defence pact was being negotiated in Tehran and accusing him of turning “religion and politics into a source of income”, as JUI-F lawmakers repeatedly interrupted him.
Fazl had mocked Asif’s absence from a recent meeting in Tehran, which brought together Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, Field Marshal Asim Munir and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin with Iran’s foreign minister and security chief. “A defence pact is taking shape in Iran, a meeting is under way, and the defence minister is sitting here,” Fazl told the House on Wednesday, turning Asif’s own phrase against him: “Koi sharam hoti hai, koi haya hoti hai” (have some shame, show some modesty).
‘A messenger of peace’
Asif said the Tehran discussions were not about Pakistan’s defence and fell outside his ministry’s mandate, Dawn reported. He said he had been involved in Pakistan’s two recent defence agreements, the Makkah defence pact and the Badr memorandum of understanding, but that Field Marshal Munir had gone to Tehran “as a messenger of peace” after helping to stop a war. He called for international recognition of Pakistan’s peace role.
‘A free ride’
Turning on Fazl, Asif said the JUI-F chief had been an ally until recently, having led the Pakistan Democratic Movement that ousted the PTI government in 2022, and had benefited from every political arrangement. “Just tell me what he did for Kashmir during those 10 years as chairman of the Kashmir Committee, apart from swinging on swings,” he said, according to Geo News, calling Fazl’s tenure “a free ride”.
He also admitted mistakes by his own side. “We should not have entered into such compromises to come to power. We should have sat on the opposition benches; there would have been more dignity in that,” he said. “When you come to power by forming a coalition with such people, you keep getting blackmailed.”
As JUI-F members protested, Asif warned them against provoking him. “They have turned religion and politics into a source of income. If I start revealing what they did during the PDM government, I will tell everything,” he said. “You can say whatever you want about us, but do not criticise our foreign and defence policies.”
