Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Monday criticised the role of media and the prevailing political system, saying that negative and unverified information spreads rapidly, contrary to the teachings of Islam.
Addressing the Provincial Digital Media Convention organised by JUI Punjab in Lahore, Fazl said that in political life the basic question has always been that Muslims live in an Islamic state, yet media priorities and practices are often against Shariah. He said negative content spreads much faster on social media than positive messages, adding that disrespect, insults and ridicule go viral while good things are ignored.
He regretted that even respected scholars who teach for hours can be mocked worldwide if a casual remark goes viral. He said religion teaches people to hide the flaws of others, but the situation in media and politics is completely different, where negative news is spread across the world without verification.
The JUI chief said that secret agencies also engage in such practices, alleging that when someone speaks against them, files are created to find faults. He stressed that any information should be properly investigated before being shared and criticised the culture of creating fake news to assassinate character or mock individuals.
Referring to the political system, Fazl said there is no democracy in Pakistan, only power. He alleged that elections are fake and results are prepared in closed rooms, adding that governments at both the federal and provincial levels have been imposed. He said these were not claims but realities witnessed by his party.
He said sovereignty belongs only to the system of Allah and that Islam teaches human rights according to divine principles. He also said his remarks were not made out of enmity but to give a better lesson to the youth, adding that his party’s social media teams have been instructed to post content based strictly on facts.
The convention was attended by Maulana Muhammad Amjad, Engineer Zia-ur-Rehman, Maulana Safiullah, Hafiz Naseer Ahmed Ahrar, Hafiz Ghazanfar Aziz, Maulana Qari Muhammad Usman, Maulana Jamal Abdul Nasir, Maulana Saeed Sarwar and other party leaders.
