ISLAMABAD - A prayer leader in Malakand has fallen from grace for violating election codes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by using mosque for boosting campaign of his party's candidates triggering Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to issue him a show cause notice.
As the ECP continues to summon politicians/candidates for violating codes of conduct for LB polls in KP, the notice served on the prayer leader named as Habibul Haq who also teaches Arabic in a government school, is a bizarre case of its kind. The petitioners have accused the prayer leader of misusing the mosque and loudspeaker of the worshipping place for election campaign arguing the Arabic teacher was a government official who should not indulge in politics under the rules.
The ECP summoned Habibul Haq to appear before its court in Islamabad today and explain as to why he participates in active politics and that too after the announcement of schedule of LB polls.
The petitioner Haji Gul Zaman and two others have provided the photos of the prayer leader in which he appears to be addressing voters in Malakand besides a recording in which the Arabic teacher shows his support to a candidate in election during a sermon in the mosque where he leads prayers.
"He (the Imam) is active member of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazal (JUI-F) and he uses the mosque for worldly things (election). Besides, he is Arabic teacher in Government Higher Secondary School Dheri Malakand and is a government official. He cannot campaign under the law," the petitioner Gul Zaman told The Nation on phone Monday.
With Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) being the top two violators in KP regarding the disrespect for codes of conduct in KP, this is for the first time that ECP has issued notice to a school teacher involved in election campaign after the announcement of schedule.
On Monday, the ECP grilled Mushtaq Ghani, KP Minister for Higher Education, MPA Akbar Ayub Khan who is Advisor to Chief Minister on Communication and Works (C&W) and Ameer JI Sirajul Haq through his lawyer.
The list of those who have violated the codes of conduct include Chairman PTI Imran Khan and his party's MPAs with fresh notices served on three more KP MPAs on Monday including MPAs Habib Rehman, Ziaullah Bangash and Faisal Zaman Khan of PK-62.
But the worth noticing show cause served on Monday was related to the schoolteacher who is also a prayer leader as petitioners produced strong evidences against him for being involved in breach of the LB codes.