The Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman-led JUI-F has taken a bold step and decided to expel the renegade leaders from the party, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Friday.

It is the JUI-F disciplinary committee which went ahead with the move, ending the basic party membership of Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, Maulana Mohammad Khan Sherani, Maulana Gul Naseeb Khan and Maulana Shuja-ul-Mulk.

But the aggressive JUI-F did not stop there and has also decided to file a reference with the Supreme Judicial Council against NAB Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal.

In this connection, a legal team will move the body under Article 209 by filing the reference pertaining to the alleged video concerning the NAB chairman.

Earlier on Thursday, the JUI-F leadership held a meeting in Islamabad for discussing the PDM-related affairs and the “media trial” of Fazl, who is also the PDM president, as he hasn’t so far received the questionnaire issued by the NAB despite being shared with and spread through TV channels and newspapers.

The central executive committee, provincial party heads and other leaders were among those attending the JUI-F meeting as they deliberated upon the PDM’s performance so far, current political scenario and future course of action.

The party also discussed the issue of how to counter the media trial of Fazl, which the party believes is nothing but character assassination.

Also on Thursday, Gul Naseeb – former head of the JUI-F’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chapter – said the reports of internal differences in the party were correct, but expressed the hope that they would be able to resolve the matters through mutual consultations.

About Sherani’s assertion that Pakistan should recognise Israel, he described the statement as his personal opinion and said the JUI-F was standing by the Palestinians as the party manifesto.

Earlier, Sherani – former chairman of the Council of Islamic Ideology who previously served as MNA, senator and JUI-F Balochistan chief – had a wrote a letter, accusing Fazl of turning the JUI-F into a family party.

“Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman himself is selected. How can he taunt and call Imran Khan and others selected?” he said and also rejected the PDM politics, terming it an unnatural alliance of the opposition parties. 

Later, Gul Naseeb and Maulana Shuja-ul-Mulk had come out openly to back the views of Sherani who, in fact, isn’t the first party leader to go after Fazl, as the saga had started with Hafiz Hussain Ahmed.

Hafiz had not only criticised the policies of Fazl but also blasted PML-n supremo Nawaz Sharif for his anti-establishment stance.

Separately, 24NewsHD reported on Thursday that the government had devised a strategy to tackle the rival religio-political parties, which, sources said, was obviously focused on the JUI-F, as Pir Noor-ul-Haq Qadri and Tahir Ashrafi had been assigned with the task of contacting the religious circles.

The sources say Qadri – federal minister for religious affairs – will reach out to the custodians of different shrines and other leaders of the same school of thought.

Similarly, Ashrafi, who is a special representative to the prime minister on religious harmony, will contact madrasas as well as other religious scholars and leaders for the same purpose backing the government.

In this connection, the sources say discussions with other religious circles and parties is aimed at weakening the JUI-F’s position when it comes to the ongoing PDM movement.