LAHORE - Severing his years-long association with PML-N, Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan (F) MNA Sahibzada Fazle Karim declared here on Tuesday that now he would transform the just launched Sunni Ittehad Tehrik (SIC) into a formidable political force which would contest the next elections from its own platform, independent of religious parties as they had failed to come up to peoples expectations over the past several decades. He said he would step down as a member of the lower house of parliament if the SIC leaders asked him to do so. However, he made it clear, if he was told to quit as an MNA, legislators of other parties elected with the support of the rightist voters of his party would also have to vacate their seats. Fazle Karim was delivering a lecture at Hameed Nizami Hall, which was followed by a brief question-answer session. Though head of his own faction of the JUP, Fazle Karim has been contesting election for MNA from Faisalabad on PML-Ns ticket, and he is still a member of the National Assembly because of the support extended by PML-N. Our association with PML-N has come to an end. We have been their allies in difficult periods. But we have parted company as they failed to meet our demands. Asked how would he be able to enforce the Islamic system in the country, a task which all religious parties had failed to accomplish because of lack of popular following in elections, the SIC chairman said other religious parties had been dependent on political parties and had failed to come up with their own manifestos. The SIC, he said, would present comprehensive plans to be enforced in five and 10 years. He said all political parties had disappointed the electorate and thus the SIC stood a good chance of winning peoples support. Karim said foreign countries offering support to various parties for implementation of the Islamic system should route their donations through the govt. In his opinion, no aid should be given directly to any entity. The SIC chief said the govt was under obligation to enforce Islamic system and ensure that no law was enacted which was repugnant to tenets of Islam. However, he said, it was regrettable that interest-based economic system was still in force and the recommendations of the Council of Islamic Ideology were not being given due importance. Similarly, he said, a class-based system of education was working in the country which was against the spirit of Islam. Referring to criticism that death sentence for a blasphemy accused was not fair, he said when a man violating the Constitution could be awarded this sentence, there was nothing wrong with providing the same punishment for blasphemers. SIC Chief Organiser Muhammad Safdar Shah Gilani was also present on the occasion.