Maulana Fazlur Rehman has openly criticised Army Chief General Asim Munir’s security policies and governance failures
In a high-stakes move that underscores the deepening mullah-military nexus in Islamabad, state-backed cleric Hafiz Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi has held a high-profile meeting with Hafiz Talha Saeed—son of UN-designated terrorist Hafiz Saeed—at Markaz Quba. Intelligence sources reveal that the broad-daylight strategy session between the Pakistan Ulema Council Chairman and the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) leadership was designed to orchestrate a coordinated response to Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who has openly criticised Army Chief General Asim Munir’s security policies and governance failures.
Rather than advocating for outright confrontation, the military-aligned alliance is pushing for a “soft stance” and strategic leniency towards Fazlur Rehman to neutralise his political momentum without provoking a wider confrontation. LeT figures at the meeting urged clerics to highlight positive aspects of the JUI-F chief’s career while firmly delivering a warning against speaking out against state institutions. By courting jihadist networks to manage traditional religious-political figures, Rawalpindi is using radical elements as a domestic firewall to shield the deep state from mounting political dissent.