Sindh JUI-F general secretary quits post over party chief’s ‘90’ visit

Sindh Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) general secretary Rashid Mehmood Soomro has tendered his resignation after expressing his reservations over party chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s visit to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) headquarters, the Nine Zero, in Karachi on Tuesday.

The JUI-F chief visited the ‘90’ to persuade the MQM to withdraw the resignations of legislators in the Senate, National Assembly and Sindh Assembly after he was given the task by the federal government.

Maulana Soomro told Dawn said that he intended to step down as the Sindh JUI-F general secretary over the issue of Maulana Rehman’s visit to the MQM headquarters. Sources close to Maulana Soomro also confirmed that his resignation had been sent to the central leadership by a courier service.

The sources said that the JUI-F chief had spoken to Maulana Soomro by phone in the wake of his decision to accept the task of mediation and asked him to come to Islamabad. A statement issued by Larkana JUI-F spokesman Hameedullah Siyal on Tuesday said that Mr Soomro advised the party chief not to visit the MQM headquarters, the sources said.

The sources said that most senior JUI-F activists in the province believed that the MQM was not only pursuing an anti-Sindh policy but also had connections with anti-state agencies. They said that Maulana Rehman’s visit to the ‘90’ had hurt feelings of Sindhis.

The sources observed that the JUI-F chief kept its Sindh chapter in dark about the visit and did not take it into confidence.

Meanwhile, it was learnt that the Sindh JUI-F shoora (committee of advisers) had convened its meeting in Sukkur on Aug 22 to discuss the situation arising out of Maulana Soomro’s resignation.

Maulana Soomro was elected general secretary of the party’s Sindh chapter on Jan 11 to succeed his father Dr Khalid Mehmood Soomro, who was assassinated in a mosque adjacent to his seminary in Sukkur on Nov 29 last year.