Following the passage of the 21st Constitutional Amendment by an unanimous resolution in Parliament, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has called a consultative meeting of major religious political parties tomorrow.
According to sources, the JUI-F is trying to convince the religious leaders to unite in protest against the 21st Constitutional Amendment, which was passed unanimously through Parliament on Tuesday and signed into law by the president today.
The 21st Constitutional Amendment Act and the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Act, 2015 are aimed at setting up constitutionally protected military courts to try civilian terrorism suspects.
However, leaders of the JUI-F and Jamaati-i-Islami (JI) stuck to their guns and rejected the proposed law in its current form.
Fazl had expressed his apprehensions over the new legislation, which he claimed was biased and could be used to target religious seminaries and institutions.
Meanwhile, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court today challenging the establishment of military courts. The petition states that the contentious amendment to establish military courts in the country is against the ‘basic structure’ of the Constitution.
