LAHORE - Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah’s recent chit-chat with Maulana Ahmad Ludhianvi at Jashn-e-Nauroz function in Jhang has completely baffled the PPP cadres who are finding it hard to digest the news.
This is so because Maulana Ludhianvi is identified with sectarian elements though he has maintained a public posture of neutrality on the issue. Also, the PPP leadership has been criticising time and again its main political rival, the PML-N, for seeking extremists’ support to gain victory in elections.
Former law minister Rana Sanaullah’s controversial footage along with Maulana Ludhianvi in which both are shown leading a public rally, has been a subject of great criticism by PPP stalwarts in the recent past.
Most of the PPP leaders with whom this scribe talked to sounded eager to know as to what had compelled a senior party leader to meet a controversial personality like Ludhianvi.
“Now, we cannot grill the PML-N and Rana Sanaullah for their links with the extremists,” a visibly perturbed PPP leader remarked. He said he was astonished as well as shocked to read the story about a top party leader meeting a Maulana with sectarian credentials.
As reported in this newspaper, PPP-P President Makhdum Amin Fahim has served a notice on Mr Shah and Mian Manzoor Ahmad Wattoo (the latter was also part of the meeting) to explain their position for involving in an activity which is against the party line. Wattoo has given his personal explanation that he was not aware that the chief guest of the function (Khurshid Shah) was scheduled to have a meeting with Maulana. Wattoo has also admitted receiving a show cause notice from the top leadership.
Though Khurshid Shah was not available for his comment, circles close to him maintained that he just could not refuse a request for a meeting from the cleric. A few PPP leaders also tried to give a positive spin to the story saying that being an opposition leader Khurshid Shah was supposed to meet people with diverse political and religious backgrounds to know their views on national issues. “He might have afforded Maulana an opportunity to meet him only to know what he was up to. Whether he was still the same old Maulana with extremist views regarding Shia community or had he changed a little bit over the time,” the PPP leader explained his point.
It is relevant to mention here that Mr Shah also belongs to Shia sect whose members have been facing persecution at the hands of Sunni extremists since long. Seemingly, Maulana from Jhang also has no love lost for this religious community. But despite his religious lineage to the contrary, he had no problem meeting a political figure having different views on religion.